Democracy Essay Writing Help
Can democracy be successfully exported by force?
The terminology “democracy” was first used in Ancient Greece; 2 centuries ago and the precise definition of the term is “rule by the people”. Democracy doesn’t have only one definition it is described through many disciplines that include economics, political science, societal or communitarian (Coppedge, 2011). According to Merriam Webster (2015), ‘a government is an institution in which the utmost power is in the hands of the citizens and used by them directly or indirectly via an arrangement of representation typically including elections. Moreover, it is said than the origins of democracy were from Ancient Greece, but currently, the USA has taken the initiative to promote representative democracy all over the globe. However, it is not possible to evaluate the accomplishment of exporting democracy via force. The first government to export democracy in the USA was the Reagan administration, then it was institutionalized by the Clinton regime and Bush Regime made this a key factor of America’s National Security Policy concerning the Middle East. Moreover, the use of force in exporting democracy has failed terribly due to the causes which involve the importance of culture and traditions around the globe and how culture and values are an informal entity which coincides with formal institutions, involving legislations, constitutions, policies, and laws (Coyne, 2006). The reasons involving wither the failure or success of democracy are traditions, culture, and citizen’s attitude towards democracy whether they approve or reject democracy and externalities. Some successes have been accomplished by exporting democracy through force that are Japan, West Germany, and Italy and the failure are Iraq, Somalia, Cuba and Afghanistan (Bezhan, 2019).
Explore the pivotal Role of Media in Democracy with Assignmentstudio. Our research delves into the intricate dynamics, illuminating the vital contributions of media in fostering transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement within democratic frameworks.
Democracy is that people have the right to exercise freedom, right to act, speak and think as they want (Oxford, 2105), however, nations exports democracy through military actions that snatches them with the freedom to speak or act. In 2003, when the US tried to export democracy through force in Iraq; the situation there was horrific and people were horrified due to the use of arms and weapons. According to Archibugi (2008), there are 4 main elements which are not considered when entering into a country; internal components of a nation, citizens do not oppose every rigid administration, if the people are against it than the externality will force it and it might conclude in the civil war. The first factor includes the internal elements and the second is that as to why democracy exported through force fails because the country doesn’t have a say in the regime; citizens aren’t allowed to have to say which make them victims and are in the state of terror like in Iraq and Afghanistan. In these two countries where force was used on the citizens and Americans didn’t communicate with the locals, which led to hatred among the population. The last element is either democracy is being originated for the first time or it has already been originated and is simply being reintroduced; as explained earlier that it was previously originated from Ancient Greece and democracy has been exported successfully through force in West Germany, Italy, and Japan; the reason behind it was that people have lower religious and cultural difference and they wanted to flourish (Enterline & Greig, 2008). By the term society’s culture, we mean the collection of traditions, values, culture, believes and many more which are passed down by generations (Coyne, 2006). The main restriction for the use of democracy through force in other countries is culture as every area of the society’s foundations are ruined. By dominating the traditions and values of a society, a country cannot democratize the society through force as the customs and culture are deeply rooted in the society; especially in Iran and Afghanistan USA failed terribly whereas when America used force to export democracy in Japan and Germany it was successful by providing AID, soldiers, systematic elections.
According to Castro & Teixira (2013) Foreign Imposed Regime Change (FIRC) entails 3 strategies:
- Removing the country’s leader and the political entities through the use of force
- Appointment of a new leader
- The role of the USA in establishing their territory
The most excruciating and intensive FIRC was held in Iraq in 2003, where USA thought it was necessary to democratize Iraq after it was revealed that Iraq and Saddam Hussain didn’t possess Weapons of Mass Destruction. Moreover, the citizens of Iraq wanted to get out of the awful and terrible rule of Saddam Hussain, wanted the right to speak and act, but they witnessed a failed nation. The indirect invasions had already begun in 1990 where UN and US imposed economic embargoes against Saddam Hussain’s regime which led to the killing of 500,000 children and it was lifted in 2003 through the democratization by the USA however, 180,000 people were dying as a consequence of the annihilation of public sector i.e. lack of hospital treatment (Cole, 2013). In today’s date Iraq is likely to be seen as a failure for exporting democracy due to which it is still suffering the aftermath of the war. The main critique of democratization of nation using force is that those who try to democratize other vulnerable nations do it for their good or their own national interests; the USA invaded over Iraq for its oil.
Hire Expert Writers at
Affordable Price
WhatsApp
Get Assignment Help
When the US landed in Iraq the people didn’t welcome them and when they tried to take matters into their hand’s population grew aggressive due to the destruction of schools, infrastructure, and hospitals. People weren’t allowed to go outside of their homes; they felt that they were in a house arrest. The Ba’ath Party who was in power before the invasion, USA was determined to remove every foundation of this party. The Ba’ath party included police, military officials who weren’t of the same mindset as their leader but had to be a part of the party to get along in the society; engineers, teachers and doctors were also a part of this party (Stewart, 2015). The majority of the population was against Saddam Hussain’s regime but they were more against than the US invasion as they were the sufferers of the cruelty by the USA and it did not involve the locals in their policies made for Iraq. The USA thought that if they invaded Iraq successfully through exporting democracy, they could easily take control of the Middle East and secure itself but it failed awfully due to internal reasons. Iraq is rich in culture and customs and they have great importance in Iraq, which was the main reason for the failure of democratization. Iraqis have a deep connection with their culture and religious believes which the other countries cannot understand and cannot work according to them.
In addition, Iraq was left with alienation of their strong and historical roots and the Americans were not able to train the Iran troops properly, which led it to the wastage of fuel that is now being used in the civil war. When an attempt is taken by an invader to export democracy in a vulnerable country through force whose population has a deep connection with the culture and traditions; the possibility of democratization is not successful and it only forces a country to enter into relative anarchy that is set by the radical fundamentalist. This has been seen in the previous years when the Mujahideen were formed when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, after that the Islamic extremist entity Taliban was formed. Moreover, after Iraq was invaded in 2003; the hostility, which the Iraqis faced ultimately, resulted in the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which the whole world fears today. The USA also tried to invade Cuba, which resulted in the extension of the dictatorship of Castro and Haiti’s key source safety, and security came from UN Peacekeepers that left 80% of the population with poverty. The above examples are some evidence that you cannot just simply force democracy on some country without keeping in mind the locals. Every country has a different point of view, but the force worked in the case of Germany and Japan. For democracy to flourish the country needs to have social, moral, economic and democratic power.
