Military intervention and peacekeeping operations

Democracy at the Point of a Sword

Will "Implanting democracy by the sword" carry the seeds of its own failure? This is an important and topical question, especially given the foreign policy that the U.S. has adopted in the recent past. it's not easy to provide an unequivocal answer because several critical factors need to be considered.

Today Germany is a democratic country and a united one. Communism has been rooted out from the east and the capitalistic-democratic paradigm has been allowed to flourish. The seed of this has been sown through the international intervention in World War II. This war and the great one preceding it were not necessarily to instill democracy, but were to stem the tide brought forth by a single dictator and before him a ruler (Kaiser Wilhelm). But the long-term effects were still the same. If not for American intervention, because other than the incident at Pearl Harbor and some instances of the war on the Pacific front (Toland, 1961), the continental United States was unscathed and could more easily provide man power and equipment that turned the tide of the war. The effects were the installation of democracy in at least the countries that came under the control of the West Bloc. The countries that suffered under the yoke of the Soviet Union and Communism, is however, another matter. The work that NATO did during the Cold War essentially achieved the same purpose.

On the other hand, the recent Iraq war (Copson, 2003), which is perhaps why this essay is being considered, is a unique situation. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was, in a sense, different, because other than the First Gulf War, no other country was jeopardized. One might argue there were some connections between the terrorists of September 11, 2001 and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but these are tenuous at best and this argument was not raised until after the war began. Can democracy therefore he implanted in Iraq through the deposition of its leader. A pessimist might aver a definite no. An optimist might say that it is too early to tell.

One of the possible failures of the American-led war in Iraq is that it was not merely about removing Saddam Hussein. Executing him has not created a blanket solution. Indeed, there is some semblance of the beginnings of people's contribution to rule in Iraq. There is also a large infusion of finances from the U.S., to reintroduce societal infrastructure into that country. One of the possible failures of the war could be that Western nations, its leaders and people do not understand the Islamic mindset. Surrounding Islamic countries might foster unrest if nothing else to demoralize the West and decrease this influence. Since most of these countries are kingdoms or ruled by despots, these nations have a hidden agenda to create unrest and present the U.S.-led invasion and its aftermath as a failure.

Having been identified a failure in the eyes of the world would prevent any possible invasion of the other Islamic kingdoms or fiefdoms.

Another cause of a possible long-term failure of U.S. attempts at bringing democracy to Iraq would be because of the Islamic mindset. There are two primary sects within Islam (among others): Sunni and Shiite. Mr. Hussein was a Sunni. Sunnis in the country were preferentially treated. The Sunnis would therefore not want the removal of Saddam Hussein because of the fear of transfer (or sharing) of power with the Shiites. Many have averred that centuries of generations of having lived under the rule of a despot have made Islamic society unable to consider a government of for and by its people.

Culture and religion aside, one of the biggest affront to any nation and its people is another nation invading it causing a blemish on its integrity and national pride. This is no matter how developed and democratic the invading nation is and no matter how poor or downtrodden the people of the invaded nation are. Objective observers not affiliated with either nation will also support the sovereignty of each nation against aggression from another.