Two years on, the revolt in Bahrain is still smoldering, even if the opposition can't marshal the same numbers of street demonstrators that it once did. The ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty has pulled out all the stops in its crackdown on the opposition -- including pouring vast sums into its huge and brutally effective security apparatus. But it probably wouldn't have survived as long it has without the support of the United States, which has so far declined to publicly reproach the kingdom for its lack of respect for basic human rights. The reason is simple: Bahrain is the home base of the Fifth Fleet, the enforcement arm of American interests in the Persian Gulf. Security, in short, trumps democracy.
More...
Bahrain isn't the only country where U.S. strategic interests seem to override a commitment to other people's freedom. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates hardly qualify as democracies, but, like Bahrain, they all profit from the Pentagon's desire to pursue its strategic interests throughout the region. Elsewhere in the Middle East, it's the fight against terrorism that often seems to take priority over human rights. That's one of the biggest motives behind the close relationships that the U.S. military maintains with authoritarian regimes in Iraq and Jordan. American generals are frequently accused of putting more effort into attacking al Qaeda and its allies than on shoring up nascent democratic openings in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen. To be sure, the soldiers' primary job is to keep American citizens safe, not to build liberal societies in other parts of the world. Yet there's also a powerful argument to be made that genuine security can only come in a world where leaders respect the rights of their citizens.
Nor does this apply only to the Middle East. The need to keep military supplies flowing to U.S. forces in Afghanistan has softened Washington's policy toward dictatorial regimes in Central Asia, which allow those supplies to be transported through their territory. So the critics would seem to have good reason when they accuse America's men in uniform of prizing stability over freedom in their doings overseas -- sometimes in direct contradiction of efforts by civilian diplomats and aid workers to foster good governance and respect for rights.
More from Democracy Lab
- It’s Time for Burma’s President to Act
- Four Arab Democrats and a Constitutional Scholar Walk Into a Bar
- Outfoxing the Oligarchs in Latvia
Dennis Blair has heard plenty of those accusations in his day. Thirteen years ago, when he was a top-ranking admiral in charge of Pacific Command, critics in Congress charged him with maintaining friendly relations with Indonesia's military when their troops were committing atrocities in East Timor. Blair, who retired from government service after a stint as Obama's Director of National Intelligence three years ago, denies that he was soft on the generals in Jakarta. But the experience has prompted him to think about whether the U.S. military establishment can do more to promote democratic values in its dealings with other countries than it has in the past.
Those who question the depth of the U.S. government's commitment to democracy as a foreign policy goal probably won't be convinced by Blair's ideas, which he aims to present in a new book that's due to appear in the coming weeks. But the critics should give him a chance. The book, Military Engagement: Influencing Armed Forces Worldwide to Support Democratic Transition, is part of a project, directed by Blair for the Council for the Community of Democracies, to rethink how U.S. military power can be used to further democratic ends. (If you're interested in the topic, be sure to check out the exhaustive reading list compiled by the project's organizers.)
First of all, Blair suggests elevating the pursuit of democratic ideals to the status of a strategic objective for the U.S. military, on a par with the more traditional aims of protecting American economic and security interests around the world. That, he argues, would change the way that Pentagon representatives deal with their counterparts in other countries -- an approach that he would like to see adopted by U.S. allies as well. "The military officers from the democracies should be working with their counterparts to support democratic development in their own countries," he says. (And the military does have plenty of weight to throw around. In recent years, the Pentagon's budget has been roughly 13 times the amount the government spends on civilian foreign policy.)
SUBJECTS:
