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Bring Them Freedom, or They Destroy Us

[IMPRIMIS] Bernard Lewis - What is the possibility of freedom in the Islamic world, in the Western sense of the word? One view common in the U.S. and Europe holds that Islamic peoples are incapable of decent, civilized government. Whatever the West does, Muslims will be ruled by corrupt tyrants. Therefore the aim of our foreign policy should be to insure that they are our tyrants rather than someone else's - friendly rather than hostile tyrants. The second common view is that Arab ways are different from our ways. They must be allowed to develop in accordance with their cultural principles, but it is possible for them - as for anyone else, anywhere in the world, with discreet help from outside and most specifically from the U.S. - to develop democratic institutions of a kind. There is a view sometimes expressed that "democracy" means the system of government evolved by the English-speaking peoples. I beg to differ. Different societies develop different ways of conducting their affairs, and they do not need to resemble ours. Democracy is not born like the Phoenix. It comes in stages, and the stages and processes of development will differ from country to country, from society to society. There are elements in Islamic society which could well be conducive to democracy. Pro-American feeling is strongest in countries with anti-American governments. I've been told repeatedly by Iranians that there is no country in the world where pro-American feeling is stronger, deeper, and more widespread than Iran. But the anti-American feeling is strongest in those countries that are ruled by what we are pleased to call "friendly governments." And it is those, of course, that are the most tyrannical and the most resented by their own people. The writer is Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
2006-09-22 01:00:00
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