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“Exporting
Democracy”—and Getting It Wrong: Some Thoughts
Owen Harries
Americans
of all political persuasions believe profoundly that it is their right and
duty-indeed their destiny-to promote freedom and democracy in the world.
It is a noble and powerful impulse, one not casually to be ridiculed or
dismissed. But acting on it-if one is concerned about being effective and not
merely feeling virtuous-is a complicated and delicate business with many
dangers. Success requires that this impulse be balanced against,
and where necessary circumscribed by, other interests that the United
States must necessarily pursue, more mundane ones like security, order and
prosperity. For these represent not merely legitimate competing claims but
the preconditions for a lasting extension of democracy.
Success
requires, too, an awareness of the intractability of a world that does not
exist merely in order to satisfy American expectations-a world that, for
the most part, cannot satisfy those expectations in the foreseeable
future. While determination and purposefulness are important ingredients
in any effective policy, the attempt to force history in the direction of
democracy by an exercise of will is likely to produce more unintended than
intended consequences. The successful promotion of democracy calls for
restraint and patience, a sense of limits and an appreciation of the
wisdom of indirection, a profound understanding of the particularity of
circumstances ... . As Carlyle once put it, "I don't pretend to
understand the Universe-it's a great deal bigger than I am ... People
ought to be modester." Indeed.
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