Fukuyama urges new democracy strategy

Political economist and former State Department official Francis Fukuyama equated the foreign policy of the Bush administration to the vision of President Woodrow Wilson following World War I, speaking Wednesday in Dodds Auditorium as part of the Wilson School's 75th anniversary speaker series.

Yet Fukuyama criticized the application of Wilson's vision, saying, "It's a really big mistake to think democratization is a good tool to fight terrorism."

Fukuyama described liberal democracy as the final major globally motivating ideology, reasserting the argument in his famed 1992 book, "The End of History."

"I think that governments are going to have a hard time legitimating their rules with ideals other than democracy," Fukuyama said. "We see even nondemocratic regimes turning to liberal democratic rhetoric to justify their regime."

Despite this fact, Fukuyama warned against the United States using its power — military or economic — to engineer democratic outcomes in countries around the world. He argued that not only is "coercive democratization," such as the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, misguided, but that the United States "[needs] to be careful even with soft-power forms of influence."

Citing the Mass Democracy Act, a bill pending in the House of Representatives, as an example of ill-aimed soft-power, Fukuyama said democratic reform won't work "if it has America's fingerprints on them." The act, Fukuyama explained, would funnel large sums of money to the State Department to support freedom movements in authoritarian nations.

In reference to military interventions that seek to bring about democracy, Fukuyama said, "the totality of U.S. military interventions have not left lasting, meaningful democratic institutions."

He suggested these failures were the result of Americans not being an "imperialist people," and consequently losing interest in state building after five years.

Fukuyama said that if the United States must pursue democratization, then it must first promote strong economic institutions and efficient governance abroad. "A strong state must precede accountable government," he said.

He said the United States should look to the European Union as a model in this respect. The E.U. program for demanding structural reforms before countries can be considered for introduction into the Union, Fukuyama said, represents a successful method of bringing about economic development.

The one positive democratization measure Fukuyama praised is the Millennium Challenge Account. This U.S. program gives aid dollars to nations only after they have met a series of development benchmarks, such as economic freedom, lack of corruption and political rights, according to the Millennium Challenge Corporation's 2004 Country Rankings.

After his lecture, Fukuyama fielded questions from a largely student audience. When one asked if Fukuyama anticipated a stable outcome in Iraq, the speaker gave an exasperated sigh: "Frankly, Iraq would be lucky if they could get to a Latin American-style military dictatorship."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

And if that doesn't take shape, Fukuyama said, Iraq may separate into warring ethnic zones in which Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites all clash militarily.

Though Fukuyama identified bleak prospects for democracy in the Middle East, he cautioned against believing any theorists who argue that Islamic culture is the impediment.

"It's easy to misunderstand and abuse the role of culture," Fukuyama said.