I am sure you will read and enjoy Friedman's column today on what we may face in "Nation Building" Iraq. If we do, we will spend a good bit of time here discussing it, I think.
I am reading "Breaking the Phalanx," a book on our Military that came highly recommended. Two interesting points from it that I think we should keep in mind.
1) Only seven countries in the world today have enjoyed a from of representative democracy for more than 100 years and five of them speak English. They are: Great Briton, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, and France. Democracy is still strongest in those insular regions of the world where security has been strongest.
2) Stable democracies do not suddenly appear. They develop. Creation of the social and institutional infrastructure requires time. Moreover, the pattern of development inevitable reflects the distribution of wealth and resources in the society. The wealthy and the educated have better organizational skills and, therefore, political groups tend to emerge first among a small circle of elites. Thus, democracy begins with the rule of a narrow, enlightened elite and a limited participatory franchise. Over time, if the franchise widens, and if constitutional rules limit political power, as in the United States after the American Revolution, democracy takes root and flourishes.
Point two is difficult. We tend to want to go immediately to "one man, one vote." However we did write a constitution for Japan that was so damn good they still love it. But the point is, lets not be in too much of a rush to try to turn these Middle East countries into an American suburb. |
