On this blog I frequently assert that promoting democracy in the Middle East is in the interests of the United States and is good foreign policy. My primary arguments for this rest on a definition of American interests in the Middle East and an assessment of the major long-term threats to those interests. If I had to boil it down to a phrase or two, the argument would go something like this: the most significant threat to long-term American dominance in the Middle East is the failure of regional allies to adequately maintain stability, and political and economic reforms are necessary today to do so; the most appropriate way for the United States to contribute to reform is through democracy promotion.
While I believe that democracy promotion should be an important component of any successful American policy in the Middle East (most especially in the Arab world), I seldom feel the need to justify my position to an audience outside the foreign policy/political science establishment. However, today I would like to go a bit further and try to explain why an ordinary American who does not care about our foreign policy should still care (at least a little) about democracy promotion.
My desire to explain my ideas in a broader context was prompted by a recent series of surveys on American foreign policy conducted by Pew Research, which finds, not surprisingly, that Americans are not too interested in democracy promotion. Enthusiasm for this year's "Arab Spring" seems low -- 23% of respondents said they thought it would be good for the United States, while the plurality, 36%, said it would have no effect at all. Explicit democracy promotion was rated as the lowest among a list of priorities, with only 13% of respondents saying it was a long-term foreign policy goal (protecting U.S. jobs came in as the most common priority, indicated by 84% of respondents). In a related survey, 46% of respondents agreed with the statement that the United States should "mind its own business" internationally, a notion that does not agree with democracy promotion as foreign policy.
So as someone who believes that democracy promotion in the Middle East is of vital strategic interest to the United States, and who has dedicated the last couple years of his life to better understanding and achieving this goal, do I think American public opinion has it wrong? Absolutely not. At the end of the day, it is not hard to see why other priorities -- protecting jobs, energy independence, reduction of military commitments overseas, etc. -- are more important to most people than democracy promotion.
America's role in the Middle East is a result of one simple fact that few politicians are willing to admit: the only reason the United States has vital strategic interests in the Middle East is to maintain its position as the world's sole superpower. In other words, global hegemony is the single real motivation for the extent to which American foreign policy, and the use of American power, is geared toward domination of the Middle East. It follows, then, that the only reason (beyond a humanitarian or altruistic motivation) to care about democracy promotion in the region is a desire for continued American dominance of the international arena. There are many compelling arguments for democracy promotion in the region, but most of them are only valid if one believes that the United States should strive to be a global power.
This notion has never been universally accepted in the United States, which has a longstanding isolationist streak. In times of economic downturn such as the current period, when there are more than enough urgent domestic problems to be addressed, influence abroad becomes less attractive even to those that do believe the United States should be a world leader.
Furthermore, the primary goal of foreign policy is always to protect a state's interests. Since it is often portrayed as a humanitarian cause which does not relate directly to American security or prosperity, and since its benefits are indirect and often intangible, democracy promotion appears to be exactly the kind of quixotic foreign adventure that is so unpopular among the general public (although it cannot hold a theoretical, financial, or political candle to such projects as the Global War on Terror when it comes to quixotic).
Let's recap: democracy promotion is good policy if the United States is interested in maintaining its global hegemony. So long as one accepts that it is worthwhile for the United States to be a world superpower, democracy promotion in the Middle East is in its interests. Projects such as global dominance and political and social reform abroad seem far less appealing when American society appears to be crumbling. This is exacerbated by the fact that it is not easy to explain how democracy promotion directly benefits the American people, especially when one does not want to bring up the whole hegemony thing. So then, if all this is true, why should Americans care about democracy promotion?
I believe there are many reasons, but in the most pragmatic terms democracy promotion is a solid investment. American prosperity has come to depend on its position as a world superpower, and American security is now deeply linked with events in the Middle East. Democracy promotion is a far more affordable and far less bloody way to preserve American interests in the Middle East than other options, such as the war in Iraq, secret drone strikes, proxy wars, an enormous network of bases, and an immense security/counterterrorism industry. Financially, democracy promotion is a drop in the security budget bucket, and in the long term it is one of the only attractive solutions to the social and political challenges facing the Middle East. While democracy promotion does not come in as a priority over jobs, immediate security, prosperity, and a whole range of other political issues, it does not have to. It is cheap, effective, and low-risk. Successful democracy promotion in the Middle East offers American taxpayers a substantial return on investment, and that is reason enough to care about it.
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