THE BEDROCK
The following seemed to get lost or glossed over during the long holiday break, but is much too clear-eyed and sane not to merit attention.
Washington is in the throes of an increasingly self-indulgent debate about whether the promotion of human rights and democracy should play a central role in U.S. foreign policy.…Reality-driven policy, engagement and diplomacy. What a concept.… the United States is apt to be tempted by realist “grand bargains” in which we would in effect trade our commitment to democracy and human rights for security.
[snip]
There are other reasons for our hesitancy to push democracy and human rights. The financial crisis, the debate over Guantánamo, and now the corruption scandal in Britain, have some asking: Who are we to export liberal values when our own house is not in order?
This misses the point. Obviously, we in the West are no more virtuous than anybody in any other country. But our system of democracy is. It’s things like independent courts, free media and the verdict of the ballot box that help to sort our deficiencies. What’s more, history shows that opportunistic deals with dictators not only betray our values; they seldom deliver over time on those very interests we claim to be pursuing.
What to do? First, let’s not tire of affirming that individual liberty is a universal value and that democracy is the best way to protect freedom and human rights. […] We need to insist, though, that our support for free media and independent NGOs and our respect for human rights be an essential part of our dialogue with their countries. Source
