February 16, 2005
Teaching Democracy
One of the doctrines of the Bush administration is to spread democracy abroad. In his second inaugural speech Bush says, "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." This ideal is nothing new to American foreign policy. In our recent history President Regan demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Indeed, Robert Kagan in his Washington Post column points out:
"The great struggle of the epoch [is] between liberty and despotism," James Madison asserted in 1823, and Americans from the founders onward have viewed the world in terms of that struggle.
Although a more hawkish stance on these issues has emerged in the post 9/11 world, these ideas are nothing new. And although I personally disagree with a policy of preemption, I'm proud and inspired by how far Iraq has come in light of the recent and successful elections.
However, we are the most successful model of democracy in the world and other nations look to us for example. This begs the question: What are we teaching the world about democracy through our actions?
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