According to Gallup public opinion polls, Iranians and Middle Easterners in general are quite skeptical about U.S. commitment to democracy in the region, whether under Bush or Obama:
Gallup says:
Obama administration reacted Monday to the final declaration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of Iran's disputed election with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton simply saying, "these internal matters are for Iranians themselves to address." Such a stance may be welcomed by Iranians, 75% of whom in 2008 disagreed with the statement, "The U.S. will allow people in this region to fashion their own political future as they see fit without direct U.S. influence...
In 2008, even as the Bush administration continued its vocal support of some democratic movements and opposition activists throughout the Middle East, 80% of Iranians disagreed that the U.S. was serious about encouraging democracy in the region.
Other 2008 Gallup Polls in the region also revealed widespread skepticism. For example, when Gallup asked Egyptians, Lebanese, and Saudis about their opinion on the same statement in May 2008, 76%, 74%, and 72%, respectively, disagreed.
In 2008, Gallup also asked Iranians an open-ended question about what the U.S. should do to improve relations with the Muslim world. After "not to mock anything related to religion," which 20% of respondents mentioned, "stop its pride and arrogance" (15%) and "stop its interference in internal affairs of Muslim countries" (11%) were among the most frequently mentioned actions.
The US priority is one thing: increasing, protecting, and projecting its self interests. Unfortunately, after WW2, this has been interpreted by most presidents to be an aggressive and often oppressive foreign policy. It is much easier to control foreign governments when they do not allow democratic freedoms.
If the US was interested in democracy for other people, why haven't we tried to make the UN more democratic? Why don't we encourage our totalitarian allies to make real moves towards democracy? The answer, in my opinion, is very simple. We don't want democracy for the world. We want control. The only times we have actually encouraged democracy to any substantial extent, was after destroying the infrastructure of conquered nations. I think the only reason we establish democratic governments in these cases, is it would be too obvious if we didn't.
Posted by: Jim | July 17, 2009 at 05:09 PM