Spread Democracy, But Not Like W.

As the race for the Presidency pushes towards that fateful November Tuesday, many of us continue to be concerned about our country’s place in today’s world. “The Freedom Agenda: Why America Should Spread Democracy (Just Not The Way George Bush Did),” journalist James Traub’s pointed study of America’s attempts to promote democracy abroad and the damage those attempts have done to our image, could not have come at a better time.

Traub takes the reader through the history of America’s foreign expansion, from our annexation of the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century through our current invasion of Iraq. This history serves as the basis for Traub to examine the current foreign policy of George W. Bush. The title, “The Freedom Agenda,” comes from President Bush’s inaugural address of 2005, in which he called for an international spread of democracy, especially in the Middle East.

Traub examines not only how the US tried to create democracies in foreign countries, but why they did not always succeed. While both Germany and Japan, where the populations desired democratic systems, emerged as successful democracies after World War II, attempts to institute democracy in places like Russia and Haiti have failed. Because of corruption in their governments and our lack of commitment to attitude adjustment, both countries have seen democracy devolve into more authoritarian regimes. Traub argues that Bush should have paid heed to these lessons in Iraq: he had to make Iraqis want democracy rather than force it upon them.

In his introduction, Traub points out that 52% of the world’s population believes that the United States has had a largely negative impact on the world during last year. Because of our failed involvement in Palestine, where the elections were destroyed by terrorism, and because of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the international stage, and especially the Middle East, did not believe in our pledge of democracy. In fact, according to Traub, they found it laughable.

But though the title of Traub’s book makes it seem like little more than an anti-Bush diatribe, his attack is not a partisan one. While Traub believes Bush’s “Freedom Agenda” to be both naïve and dangerous, he also affirms the Wilsonian ideals that inspired the President. Traub clearly believes that it is important for democracy to spread; it is a matter of methods rather than philosophy that places him against Bush. According to Traub, the strain that Bush was put under in the wake of 9/11 caused him to make foolhardy decisions despite his good intentions.

Traub questions the theory that economic stability and prosperity are necessary for a successful democratic system. He discusses democracy in economically weak Mali at length. Although it has few valuable resources and a subsistence-farm-based economy, the people are genuinely content with the political situation. Drawing on the time he has spent there, Traub convincingly conveys the situation in Mali from a variety of perspectives, allowing the reader to see the social desires that democracy fulfills there. As one Mali citizen declares, “Now you can go and speak as you wish. Democracy has erased the fear and given free expression to everyone. So I think democracy is a good thing.”

Traub attempts to highlight the illogical nature of the Bush regime’s foreign policy by using Egypt as an example of a repressive government that the U.S. has done little to reform, but he fails to tie it in with the rest of the book. Hosni Mubarak’s reign of almost thirty years falls under Traub’s category of a “liberal autocracy,” but while the U.S. has maintained a solid relationship with Egypt, it has not done much to foster democracy there. While this example does seem to speak to the idea that the Bush regime has failed to be egalitarian in their agenda to spread democracy, Traub never truly makes the connection.

As a whole, “The Freedom Agenda” is a detailed examination of democracy as it exists internationally. By delving into specific countries and how the U.S. failed in trying to implement democracy there, Traub shows the dark side of this particular political system and how corruption can corrode any government with good intentions. Considering the current situation in Iraq and other Middle Eastern and African nations in political turmoil, it is of the utmost importance that we, as Americans, understand democracy and its faults. And Traub successfully helps us do so.