17 August 2013
Democracy Can Be a Foil
Charles Krupchank’s Op –Ed in the 17 August 2013 NYT presents good reasons why many Middle East societies do not have the background for our version of democracy. However, democracy has often been little more than a disguise for a certain political order that is favored by the most powerful segments of society. Corporate funding is necessary to finance the careers of America’s elected officials just as the support of Islamic mullahs is needed to permit the majority of Iran’s voters to cast their ballots for their government’s leaders.
As long as the military remains the most powerful element of Egyptian society, and the U.S. is dependent on a stable friend in the Arab world, we must acquiesce in its crackdown on the insurgent Islamic movement there. The U.S. has more important goals in the region than spreading an incidental feature of democracy like free elections. These include access to its hydrocarbon resources and protection of Israel’s future.
Charles Krupchank’s Op –Ed in the 17 August 2013 NYT presents good reasons why many Middle East societies do not have the background for our version of democracy. However, democracy has often been little more than a disguise for a certain political order that is favored by the most powerful segments of society. Corporate funding is necessary to finance the careers of America’s elected officials just as the support of Islamic mullahs is needed to permit the majority of Iran’s voters to cast their ballots for their government’s leaders.
As long as the military remains the most powerful element of Egyptian society, and the U.S. is dependent on a stable friend in the Arab world, we must acquiesce in its crackdown on the insurgent Islamic movement there. The U.S. has more important goals in the region than spreading an incidental feature of democracy like free elections. These include access to its hydrocarbon resources and protection of Israel’s future.
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