Ironically, Democracy is Now America's Biggest Enemy in the World

Ignorance of other cultures is political death in a globalizing world - especially if you are the United States, the world's only superpower.

Bush's democracy-spreading mission - which appears to have recently been put on the backburner - is a grand vision for the world we should all share. Who would not like all the peoples of the world to be free from government intrusion in their lives, free from repression, and free to choose their own leaders in fair elections (why don't we start here in America)? But, such a policy is not in itself a formula for success - either in the sense that it will come to fruition or in the sense that it will benefit the United States. In fact, as long as the United States is seen as the lone remnant of the era of imperialization or the vanguard of a new one, democracy around the world - espescially in the Middle East - will yield nothing but governments hostile to the United States - legitimate governments backed by the support of an increasingly anti-American populace.

De-imperialization must occur before democratization. The United States must reinvent its foreign policy and tangibly effect the lives of the world's citizens through the process of globalization. Only then will spreading democracy have a chance of success, at least in terms of benefitting U.S. security.