Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Nice analogy there Tom :)

What has always frustrated me is, the close association of Democracy with the American Way. What I mean is I don't think we expect other countries to replicate our form of government, as much as ensure the government is answerable to the people and to protect minorities from persecution, such as how they treat women and the poor.

There's no need to call it Democracy so long as they follow some basic rules, i.e. Rule Sets, right?

Now Pakistan is in serious flux and have many issues to deal with, but I wanted to make that point.

Dr Barnettt,with due respect,in your strategy,human's rights and democracy are not the deciding factors,as i believe, in reaching democracy war is not the answer.if market instead of betterment of the mankind and humanity is the goal,i can see why ,the emphesis is
not on supporting the people's struggle for democracy and rather,it is on militery action and supporting or dealing with dictators.lets truly
call a spade a spade.with the age of information up on us,believe me
people know(even the "gapper people")and people all over the world including US dislike Bush and what he stands for.they dislike the creation of war or civil war in order to achieve the dark goals in the name of democracy,globalization,eliminating the radical extremism(the creation of US itself,remember the green belt).look at the policy failures of Bush and tell me one example that he is done good,wether domestically,or globaly.

Let's see what were some good examples of pure democracy cultures?

English pirate crews ... Greek mercenaries in emerging empires in Middle East ... Germanic warriors moving from one tribal leader to another during Europe's dark age. Their common thread .... which guy will get us the most loot? Yeah, let's push this democracy thing.

Oh yeah ... what about rule of law? Who are the law makers and what are their interests and concerns? But that's too much thinking ... let's just get back to the important thing ... loot!

For the utopian dreamers who espose democracy above all else out there...

Name the country which went from both a centralized economy & government to a decentralized economy and government on the same day about 17 years ago.

Answer
The Soviet Union
How'd that turn out?

Another example
A country that underwent a military coup after a leftist government was democratically elected. Centralized control of economics and government. After a few years of stagnation economic control was freed while keeping political control. Countries economy grew, a middle class was formed which peacefully forced out the military government and was trying to actively prosecute said military strongman for crimes committed during the coup and dictatorship.

Answer
Chile

Economic freedom ---> Political freedom
Can't have the second without the first.

For those playing catch up on how the world economy works please go to PBS and watch "The Commanding Heights" series.

I agree with Steven...but I'll take it further. We don't confuse Democracy with the American Way, we confuse it with capitalism. If we are to accept that China's economic opening up has led to rule set changes which may in turn lead to more freedoms within that country, then pushing democracy on it is counter productive. Democracy, as has been said many times, (but evidently not frequently enough in certain circles) must evolve; it should not be superimposed.