US POLITICAL INTERVENTION
Democracy is a state where one has a choice to do what they please without intervention from another party. It is all about being given the right to make choices without intervention. The author compares democracy as we know it and how it is practised by powerful countries in order to dominate the world by forcing their policies on others. An example is the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe who were experimenting socialism, but had to quit because they wanted to join the winning team which was practising democracy. “After all, democracy is the only form of government that commands widespread and deep legitimacy in the world today.”
Democracy according to the author was a term presumably used by the United States in the competition of power and dominance with other equally powerful states. in the case where some governments are formed though authoritarian policies and democracy is not a subject to competition, the United States uses other ways to control these governments so as to establish dominance. They will do this by bringing in foreign governments and international monetary organizations to intervene. This kind of intervention is not a good idea especially when its main objectives are democratically centred. Such interventions include; the provision of international assistance in a manner that is going to hinder autonomy and affect the flow of information and the development of legal institutions to strengthen the rule of law. In the case of both strategies, the author concludes that pluralism is in most cases assumed to be democratic even when it is imposed or manipulated by the elite. The author further assumed that organizations like the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) mainly located in third world countries providing aid preaching democracy and passing it on as a foreign policy.
Demonstration elections were first staged in Vietnam, Dominican Republic and El Salvador. The United States foreign policies have virtually determined whether elections should be done, whether they should be cancelled or whether they should be nullified regardless of the fact that they were free and fair or not. These are ways through which the United States has demonstrated its intervention in countries where they want to assert their foreign policies. Demonstration elections are categorized into; show elections, pre-empted elections and unacceptable electoral results.
Show elections were held in Afghanistan in 2005 and Iraq in 2004. The results of these elections were particularly important to the United States because they were in favour of the military invasions in both countries. If another country had sponsored those same elections and the results were not in favour of the United States, they would have denounced the elections. The US is determined to prove to the world that the invasion of both Afghanistan and Iraq was in the effort to make the countries democratic though the countries are sovereign states. They are determined to show that the invasion was genuine because they were trying to bring democracy in both countries and not a mistake made by President George W. Bush. To legitimize their efforts, the United States has sought the assistance of the United Nations that brings together different countries to oversee the elections just to prove that the interest in the invasion of these countries is nothing personal. Other non-governmental organizations were also called upon top oversee the elections thus involving the international community.
Examples of pre-empted elections include those held in Vietnam and in the Philippines in 1956 and 1972 respectively. In the case of Vietnam, the elections according to the Geneva Peace Accord would end French colonialism in Vietnam leading to the re-unification of the country and handing it back to its people. The United States feared that if the elections were free and fair, then it would lead to the election of Ho Chi Minh a popular resistant leader. The United States decided to back a communist-militant Ngo Dinh Diem in his political struggled. Allied to the US, he was influenced by the decision to stall the elections. The United States had power because they had defeated the French as a principle sponsor of the government had gave them the consent to demand for the cancellation of the elections that were intended to bring the re-unification of Vietnam.
In the case of the Philippines, the United States wanted to develop a special relation with them so that they could dominate the countries both economically and for military purposes. To avoid attacks from the East, the United States had to be having good relations with the Philippines. The United States was constantly meddling in the domestic and political affairs of Philippines including the support of pro-US political candidates and governments.
Finally, examples of unacceptable electoral results included parliamentary elections in Iran, presidential elections in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala in 1951, 1964 and 1954 respectively. In the three cases, the people elected to government those they thought would represent them in accordance to the constitution, but they would not respect the wishes of the United States or even implement their foreign policies. Though the elections were seen as free and fair, they were cancelled. In the case of Iran which is a major oil-producing country, the United States was interested in dominating it due to the economic importance that would be involved.
The intervention of the United States in elections occurring in other countries has changed the relationship between these countries and the United States from good to bad. In the case of Vietnam, the citizens were very angry after the election that were supposed t unify Vietnam were cancelled. They felt that if it was not for the US intervention, they would have elected a leader who would represent them constitutionally without being influence by foreign policy. They were also eager to be a free state and not one that was under the control of the French. Though the United States tried to convince the people that cancellation of the elections was meant to bring peace and democracy, this still hurt the relationship between them and Vietnam.
The elections in the Dominican Republic and the Guatemala were free and fair according to the constitution, but they were all termed as null and void. This was especially evident in Iran where the United States sought dominance so as to control the oil reserves. A coup followed after the elections led to assassinations and what followed was the cancellation of the elections owing to the fact that the electoral results were unacceptable.
in the comparison between law and ethics on one hand and personal interest and power on the other hand, the United States has been perceived by other countries in the world especially third world countries as a country the is eager to dominate for power and for personal interest. Their intentions are questionable even in times of a crisis because they will always have a hidden agenda for their actions. Though they might be helping a country with nothing but good intentions, it is in most cases hard to believe. They have been known to offer aid only when their foreign policies are adopted. They might alter the results of an election or even require for a change of the constitution to fit their foreign policies so that they can offer aid. They have done this through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This has affected the United States as a model of democracy in the world and is bound to cause serious implications. The short-term implications are that the countries that have been dominated by the United States will gang up against them so that they can fight their dominance. Long term implications might be a repeat of what happened in September 11, 2001 where countries will begin to attack the United States to show that they are more powerful. It is going to be a battle between the countries that support the United States and those that are against them possible causing a World War 3.
The United States has been in collaboration with the media to ensure that incriminating information about their forceful invasion and their illegal dominance is not documented. This is all for the purpose of protecting their public image to ensure that the [policies in the United States will be followed by that country and other countries. an example is the case of Iran where there was a coup after the parliamentary elections in Iran. the people of Iran did not have sufficient information on why the coup started and how it led to the assassination of their leader. this information was intentionally not documented so that the United States could not be implicated in the coup. The media has made demonstration elections seem as a way of pacification or the prevention of military insurgency.
