OxBlog

Sunday, October 06, 2002

# Posted 9:54 AM by Ariel David Adesnik  

TAKING DEMOCRACY SERIOUSLY. The New York Times bashes the President for committing himself to democracy in postwar Iraq while doing nothing to promote it in allied Muslim states such as Turkey and Pakistan. If you followed the recent debate here on democracy and Islam, you should read the Times' editorial. If one believes that Islamic culture is a fundamental barrier to democratization, then it would make sense to prioritize democracy promotion in Turkey and Pakistan over democracy promotion in Iraq, since the former have much more secular cultures as well as significant experience with democratic governance. If one believes that culture is not as important as US efforts to promote democracy abroad, then it would make sense to promote it in allied nations such Turkey and Pakistan as well as postwar Iraq.

Also on democracy and Islam: David Ignatius takes Bush to task for not laying out plans for postwar Iraq, while profiling some of those Iraqi dissidents who are.

Also check out William Buckley's contribution to the debate on democracy promotion and nation-building, which comes at the end of an article on US diplomacy at the UN. Thanks to CalPundit for finding it.
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