The Courage to Fight for Democracy

Here are excerpts from “Cultivating the Seeds of Democracy,” by Anwar Ibrahim, former finance minister and deputy prime minister of Malaysia and visiting professor at Georgetown (Los Angeles Times, 3.25.06):

Emboldened by a hard-won ideological victory over the regimes in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, the U.S. once again has sought to foment democracy abroad to ensure security at home. . .

Although it cannot be denied that U.S. initiatives for reform have contributed significantly to developments in the Middle East, fear is growing that radicals may hijack democracy. Recent Islamist electoral successes in Iran, Egypt and the Palestinian territories have given rise to questions about the ability of liberal forces to prevail against fundamentalism.

. . . there are some who say that "stability" not liberty is what the U.S. should be promoting throughout the Islamic world. . .These views on democracy and stability in the Muslim world are not only wrong but carry grave consequences.

In a way, Washington's strategy may be viewed as expiation for past sins, when the U.S. was a stumbling block to democracy in the Middle East. Iran was a democracy in 1953 when the CIA engineered the coup that transformed it into an absolute monarchy. The U.S. also has supported other tyrants in the region, including, of course, Saddam Hussein. All of this in the name of stability and security in the decades-long confrontation with the communist bloc.

The best answers to the question of whether America should reassess its strategy lie in Indonesia and Turkey, refreshing examples of Muslim democratic self-assertion. . .

The press in Indonesia is free, and the elections are fair. Fundamental liberties are enshrined in the constitution and fully recognized and respected by the powers that be. . . Arbitrary arrests and political detentions are unheard of.

. . . In Turkey, the containment of an unrestricted military establishment has aided in that country's European Union ascension. [Indonesia and Turkey] now stand as beacons, both for Muslim nations and for those who seek to help them. . .

To be successful in its efforts to spread freedom, the U.S. must remember that constitutional democracy cannot take root in a society, whether secular or Islamic, without the firm commitment of the politically empowered to protect the fundamental rights to liberty, equality and freedom of all.