Democracy and Military Intervention Democracy May Be

Democracy and Military Intervention Democracy Democracy may be a way of life in the United States but elsewhere in the world it is a foreign concept. As democracy spreads around the globe there are many places where its development has been impeded by the intervention of the military and the establishment of a military dictatorship.

But what factors are likely to produce military intervention? Brian Clive Smith, in his book "Understanding Third World Politics: Theories of Political Change and Development" discusses these factors and includes among many such factors as GNP per capita, size of military and/or defense expenditures, and social or religious instabilities. (Smith, 2003) The first factor describes the percentage of the Gross National Product each person receives, the poorer the people, the likelier military intervention seems.

Next, because the military often plays a role in politics in third world nations, if the military feels they are being under-represented in the government, and particularly in relations to expenditures, they are likely to intervene in politics. And finally, if the military is forced to play a role in stopping social or religious unrest, it may become necessary for it to intervene in politics. For instance, in Egypt the military played the role as buffer between the more religious aspects of society and the more secular ones for decades.

Article #1 "In Myanmar, Pro-Democracy Party Meets in Bid to Revitalize." Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been a military dictatorship since 1962 but will soon have its first free elections in decades. Set for 2015, elections will be important for the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (National League for Democracy), a pro-democracy party which is attempting to revitalize itself prior to the elections. Therefore, the party will soon meet to reorganize itself in an attempt to gain a better position in the upcoming elections.

The problem, as described in the article "In Myanmar, Pro-Democracy Party Meets in Bid to Revitalize," is the underlying mistrust between the old guard, who founded the party and have long suffered for it, and the new members, many of whom are defectors from among former supporters of the military government. Many only trust those who have been imprisoned, or have endured torture at the hands of the military.

The party conference, which will run from March 9th through the 12th, will attempt to address these issues, but moreover it will attempt to solve the party's greatest problem, lack of leadership. One senior party official best summed it up when he stated that the members "are more or less mediocre at every level. They have no real leadership and no charisma." (Fuller, 2013) Article #2 "Obama calls on Morsi to 'protect democratic principles'.

The transition to democracy is proving to be a difficult for the nation of Egypt as its president Morsi continues to act in increasingly un-democratic ways. As a result of his recent actions, Egyptian President Morsi received a telephone call from U.S. President Obama calling on him to continue along democratic lines. In the article "Obama calls on Morsi to 'protect democratic principles'," the U.S. president is forced to continually remind the Egyptian president about the need to included opposition groups in the governing of the nation.

Specifically Obama "called on Morsi and political groups to 'work to build a consensus and advance the political transition'." (Gulhane, 2013) He was also forced to reinforce the idea that peaceful governance requires construction of strategic partnerships "built on the base of mutual respect and common interests." (Gulhane, 2013) Along with this, Obama and Morsi also discussed region issues like the ongoing.