CIAO DATE: 04/02

Sustaining Global Democratization: Priority Task Now More Than Ever

Introduction

October 1, Mayor Rudy Guiliani told the UN Special Session on Terrorism "The best long term deterrent to terrorism . . . is the spread of our principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life. The more that spreads around the globe, the safer we will all be. These are very powerful ideas and once they gain a foothold, they cannot be stopped." This forum on sustaining global democratization was planned well before September 11. However, the premise of our discussion is that the spread of democracy is now more important than ever in building a safe world.

It is no longer prudent foreign policy—if it ever was—to ignore small unimportant states that may have appeared to be outside the area of U.S. interests. Failed states incubate terrorism.

The nature of global security threats has changed in other ways also. Terrorism is transnational. It is not deterred by threats of retaliation. Methods of deterrence therefore will shift to the methods of prevention. High on the list of these methods is democratization. Although democracy is a goal to be pursued as an end, it also contributes to other goals, including preventing the conditions that foster terrorism. It is not naive in planning for a post-Taliban Afghanistan to look at moving towards democratic institutions. The U.S. recognizes the importance of the political track in Afghanistan, among other reasons because part of our weapons arsenal is the projection of democratic values.

If the best defense of democracy is the spread of democracy then it is important to get to work—in the short term—to sustain democracy where it exists and help democrats prevail where it does not exist. While democracy goals will not be achieved overnight, they are not a pious wish for the long term, but an urgent task for a short-term action agenda. It is that agenda that forum panelists explore from different perspectives.

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