Exporting Democracy - A Global Fiasco
Armenianow.com had an interesting article “Present and Future Power Debate: Who will be the choices in 2008?” which examines the possible scenarios of political developments, probable candidates and the effects of these decisions on the political life in the country. However, all the arguments brought to and for this or that candidate in the article are most irrelevent to see the overall picture in the country. The one and only thing that got me interested was rather this one single point made by Washington D.C./Yerevan political analyst Richard Giragosian:
The point is - small nations like us should always remember, that for big nations liek US, Russia there are no such things as values, human rights or democratic principles outside of their immediate state borders. The one and only thing moving the world powers is profit: economic, political, military gains, etc. I have said previously in my blog posts, that the Armenian people can only count on themselves if they really want democracy, because nobody else is going to come round helping us - as it is not in any global power’s interests. We are too small to represent a market, we have no nuclear arms to pose dangers to their security, etc, etc…Representing a western-influenced viewpoint, Giragosian says the US has learnt a clear lesson from organizing the flower and color (“Rose” in Georgia; and “Orange” in Ukraine) revolutions in some CIS republics and concludes that imposed democracies do not work in countries where there are no truly democratic oppositions.
With too many other hot spots of unrest or tension – from North Korea to Darfur – the west, says the veteran analyst, welcomes stability.“The process of importing American democracy has exhausted itself. Today both the US and Russia want to maintain stability in Armenia and the CIS. That context would suggest the US should endorse Serge Sargsyan’s candidacy for Kocharyan’s succession, because Sargsyan will be able to continue the current political and economic path,” Giragosian says.
The conclusion by the analysts kills me - it is so very true, but so utterly disgusting!
For the time being perhaps Armenia needs someone like Putin – with some dictatorial way of rule and the ability to eradicate corruption and the constantly increasing criminalization in the country.
For more posts on Democracy in Armenia see my blog: What Democracy Means
It is interesting that we can now consider Georgia to be something of a “failed” attempt at democracy after everything that has taken place in the country over the last couple of years.
I remember being quite “envious” of Georgia, thinking “why couldn’t that have happened in Armenia?” I guess I was wrong because it was not really the Georgian citizens who advocated this but more the USA.
It is quite sad that a dictatorial form of power seems the best thing for Armenia at the moment, but I am tempted to agree. At this immediate moment people’s needs are food, water, employment - It could be argued that only a legitimately elected government would feel the responsibilty to ensure these “priveleges” to the people who elected it into power- or there is the other angle , that if stability can be maintained , and a gradual increase in living standards is achieved, then the people will warm to the dictatorial style of rule, which in my opinion will commit Armenia to becoming something of a Russian outpost, which again, is not necessarily a bad thing. I guess it all depends on where you see Armenia’s position in the world, which is often a personal viewpoint. One thing I do think however is that all the sacrifices made for Armenia’s independence, should not be forgotten for the sake of temporary gain.
Comment by Harmick — 2/6/2007 @ 4:05 pm
Since when? to become a Democracy one needs help from outside. Democracy ideals have to come from within the society. Actually, it is America’s best interest to have a “free societies” rather than “fear societies”…Free societies make the commerce flow and helps innovations flourish. This kind of society can only be a great partner for America. I don’t know where you got the idea that it is not America’s interest to have democracy in Armenia…Any evidence of that? Or just America bashing!
Comment by Frieda — 2/7/2007 @ 1:15 am
It’s not me - its Richard Giragosian who is saying its not a “priority” to “export deomocracy”. But I have a very good understanding of what the America’s interest is:
> it is in America’s interest to have predictable governments. They claim, that democratic and transparent government tend to be more “predictable” compared to other types of governments, but they will not be anagonizing any more countries and governments, if they are respectful and cooperative enough (in supporting US mission in Iraq for example)
As to the point Harmic made:
I think, that when living standards are achieved, people will have enough things to loose, and they will become more intersted in having democratic government, which will consider public opinions before making decisions which could hurt peoples property rights, wealth and well being. I think in every country Democracy is possible only when you have a degree of well being and a fair amount of middle class, because Democracy as it is now, is the rule of the middle class, and when you don’t have middle class, you can’t expect to have democracy.
Returning to Frieda’s point - about “Since when to become Democracy one needs help from the outside” - I want to remind you, that the “Democratic countries” we have now have all BECOME democratic in the course of at least 50 years, or they have BECOME democratic (e.g. Germany) as a result of direct outside intervention. Hence, if we are expecting Armenia to become democratic overnight, we should also ask for and expect foreign/outside involvement in the process. The thing is - because we don’t have a middle class, who would go on protecting its interest, we need an intermediate situation, in which someone else is generating that interest and protecting it. And at the moment the only force everybody is pointing to - is the international community, which however, does not seem very much interested in pursuing change in Armenia actively. (but they are doing it and rather successfully through the ENP, CoE Resolutions, OSCE, UN, MCA activities).
Comment by Observer — 2/7/2007 @ 8:50 pm