Xanikk999
History junkie
Yes to encourage, no to force.
They will be democratic eventually but its not going to be an outside effort.
They will be democratic eventually but its not going to be an outside effort.
Should we try to force/encourage democracy in the middle east at all?
- Thread starter Xanikk999
- Start date
Trajan12
Deity
I think we should avoid further military action, but encourage popular uprising and support it if it happens.
JonnyB
Workaholic
I think we have to let them decide for themselves what kind of gov't they want.
GoodEnoughForMe
n.m.s.s.
We'd be stupid not to try to encourage them (without force) to run a democracy. It's non forceful and non intrusive. Every country tries to influence others.
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
We should at least encourage other nations in the Middle East to accept Democracy or some sort of Republican form of Government (When I think of Democracy, I tend to think of the Ancient Greek Democracy). However we should not force it down their mouths.
Mr. Dictator
A Chain-Smoking Fox
i think we should encourage it in nations that are ready. so i guess option 2. but most nations arent ready IMO so i chose no.
tomsnowman123
Simple Liver
No. Even non forceful "encouraging" on our part would alienate them more, and would probably just be a "less aggressive" imperialistic move on our part.
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Yes, but I'm not sure if you'd classify my methods as "force".
My preference is assassination of the dictator combined with destabilizing the nation and supplying key oppressed groups to establish a democracy. Revolution from within; we never necessarily fire a bullet, but we aren't exactly guiltless.
My preference is assassination of the dictator combined with destabilizing the nation and supplying key oppressed groups to establish a democracy. Revolution from within; we never necessarily fire a bullet, but we aren't exactly guiltless.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
We should act in a manner which is in our best interest.
A republican Middle East would likely be a good thing, but it's not worth it for us now, and when the oil dries up, the Middle East will no longer concern us.
A republican Middle East would likely be a good thing, but it's not worth it for us now, and when the oil dries up, the Middle East will no longer concern us.
manlyboy
Chieftain
I think it was the Spartan king Agis who said of Middle Eastern peoples, "They make excellent slaves, but terrible free men". I believe that still rings true today. Authoritarianism permeates every aspect of their culture and society. Democracy would destroy their identity. It will never succeed. The best we can hope for is neutrality.
CaptainF
The Professional Poster
No more Iraq-style invasions.
Israelite9191
You should be reading
Yes, as in supporting native movements working within the political process. I would not support outright rebellion, as that often causes far more bad than good.
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
No; we should make the decisions for them.
Winner
Diverse in Unity
No. It is a sad matter of fact, that people in the Middle Eastern countries blessed with democracy (which means fair and free elections) tend to use their right to vote to elect some kind of Islamist (often even Islamist terrorist) movement.
Democracy in the Islamic Middle East, especially if introduced by Western soldiers, have no chance of survival.
Democracy in the Islamic Middle East, especially if introduced by Western soldiers, have no chance of survival.
Mr. Dictator
A Chain-Smoking Fox
Princeps
More bombs than God
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2004
- Messages
- 5,265
This is absurd. You judge the personality of millions of people with a single quote from a Spartan king.I cannot believe some are naive to actually believe US is in the ME to "spread love and democracy".
That's because the west has screwed with them more than once. They feel threatened, and from their perspective, the last thing they want is some Jew-hugging, corrupt pro-US government.
Gr3yL3gion
Voice of Madness
Other: We should force them to stay like this as long as possible. The west needs some enemies to keep it occupied and stay away from the problems in the rest of the world.
I would support two things:
1) Offering economic or political incentives for countries to move towards democracy. For example, we might offer to defend Kuwait against unprovoked external attacks if they promise to make continuous changes towards liberal democracy, laid out in the deal. E.g., by the end of first year they must grant broad freedoms to communicate openly, by the end of the second year, they must provide free K-12 education for their entire population, by the third, they must have trials by impartial juries, etc. This continues until the country is completely democratized, has broad civil rights, and a well educated population to keep it democratized.
2) Support internal revolutions. For example, if the citizens of Kuwait decide they want the economic or political incentives offered earlier, and democracy, and they want to overthrow the Emir, we could offer them weapons, rations, medical supplies, fuel, training, and limited military or medical intervention at their request, provided we can confirm that we won't be hitting any non-military targets. Our role would be solely to deal with things like tanks and attack helicopters that farmer revolutionaries simply aren't going to be able to deal with. This also keeps us from giving them stinger or javelin missiles, so we wouldn't need to spend millions of dollars to reclaim the unused ones.
1) Offering economic or political incentives for countries to move towards democracy. For example, we might offer to defend Kuwait against unprovoked external attacks if they promise to make continuous changes towards liberal democracy, laid out in the deal. E.g., by the end of first year they must grant broad freedoms to communicate openly, by the end of the second year, they must provide free K-12 education for their entire population, by the third, they must have trials by impartial juries, etc. This continues until the country is completely democratized, has broad civil rights, and a well educated population to keep it democratized.
2) Support internal revolutions. For example, if the citizens of Kuwait decide they want the economic or political incentives offered earlier, and democracy, and they want to overthrow the Emir, we could offer them weapons, rations, medical supplies, fuel, training, and limited military or medical intervention at their request, provided we can confirm that we won't be hitting any non-military targets. Our role would be solely to deal with things like tanks and attack helicopters that farmer revolutionaries simply aren't going to be able to deal with. This also keeps us from giving them stinger or javelin missiles, so we wouldn't need to spend millions of dollars to reclaim the unused ones.
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