Seeking a Path in Democracy’s Dead End

While sending US troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration also urged democracy throughout Central Asia, including the former satellites of the Soviet Union. Citizens in Georgia and Ukraine responded, but elsewhere dictators cling to power, relying on violence, corruption and charges of “terrorism” against opponents. The administration was forced to recalibrate its goals, reports C.J. Chivers for the New York Times. “Democracy promotion is not gone,” writes Chivers. “But it has taken its place in a wider portfolio of interests….access to oil and gas, improving trade and transportation infrastructure and expanding military, counter-narcotic and counter-terror cooperation – all informed by a sense that in the competition with Russia and China for regional influence, the United States has lost ground.” Economic decline inevitably accompanies centralized power, corruption and citizen mistrust of government. US officials can only hope that ongoing dialogue and exposure of abuses renew widespread support for democracy. – YaleGlobal