03:45 pm
Brooks on Obama’s Speech
David Brooks shares my concern over the Administration’s disinclination to embrace stronger rhetoric on democracy promotion:
The big retreat to realism concerns democracy promotion. The Bush administration tried to promote democracy, even at the expense of stability. That proved unworkable.
But many of us hoped that Obama would put a gradual, bottom-up democracy-building initiative at the heart of his approach. This effort would begin with projects to create honest cops and independent judges so local citizens could get justice. It would make space for civic organizations and democratic activists. It would include clear statements so the world understands that the U.S. is not in bed with the tired old Arab autocrats.
There was a democracy-promotion section to the speech, and given the struggle behind it, maybe we should be grateful it was there at all. But it was stilted and abstract — the sort of prose you get after an unresolved internal debate. The president didn’t really champion democratic institutions. He said that governments “should reflect the will of the people” and that citizens should “have a say” in how they are governed.
Obama didn’t describe how a democratic Iraq could influence the region. He seems to have largely given up on democracy promotion in Egypt.
Larry Diamond of Stanford liked the Cairo speech but pointed out that Obama delivered it in a country where an aging dictator is passing power to his son, where the country is crumbling to dust because of autocracy and stagnation. The administration seems to accept this. Meanwhile, as The Washington Post noted, it’s slashing aid to Egypt’s democratic activists.
All true. I would add, however, that it’s not yet clear whether this is a product of unbalanced staff work, Obama’s personal convictions, or both. Certainly Obama’s comments to Muslim journalists were a more rigorous assertion of the importance of democracy and human rights. But I also would note that Obama hasn’t hesitated to rework remarks if he doesn’t like what he’s been given.