State Department Endorses Capitalism + Democracy = Peace

Secretary of State Rice has endorsed the worldview expressed by this blog. In her address to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (1/18), Rice said:

"The fundamental character of regimes now matters more than the international distribution of power. In this world, it is impossible to draw neat, clear lines between our security interests, our development efforts and our democratic ideals [emphasis added]. American diplomacy must integrate and advance all of these goals together."

Our security interests are nations at peace. Our development efforts revolve around encouraging and supporting free markets that create widespread prosperity, and help secure democratic ideals. Capitalism + Democracy = Peace.

Rice also recognizes, in the words of Tip O’Neill, that “all politics is local.” The face on a regime can change tomorrow; stability comes from having the right system, not from successfully wooing a potential friend. Rice is rejecting concentrating on an “international distribution of power” that takes nations at face value, accepting their current leaders along with their flags and passports. We should instead look behind each nation’s external power to the strength or weakness of the system that supports it—to its internal (“local”) politics.

To move forward, toward a world at peace, we encourage the development of nations, one at a time, that build free enterprise economies that lead to democracies.