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Tyranny and Terror
 
The Bush administration contends that the push for democracy in the Muslim world will improveU.S. security. But this premise is faulty: there is no evidence that democracy reduces terrorism.Indeed, a democratic Middle East would probably result in Islamist governments unwilling tocooperate with Washington.Will Democracy in the Middle East Make Us Safer?Aiming HighPAULA J. DOBRIANSKY AND HENRY A. CRUMPTONIn "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?" (September/October 2005), Gregory Gause posits a one-dimensional solution to a multidimensional problem. Unfortunately, he also incorrectly claimsthat President George W. Bush has done the same, in believing that promoting democracy canalone defeat terrorism. Gause writes, "The Bush administration and its defenders contend thatthis push for Arab democracy will not only spread American values but also improve U.S.security. As democracy grows in the Arab world, the thinking goes, the region will stopgenerating anti-American terrorism."The administration, of course, has never prescribed democracy as the single-dose remedy to theterrorist disease. On the contrary, the president's 2003 National Strategy for CombatingTerrorism features a broad range of antiterrorist measures. The strategy also declares essentialthe coordinated deployment of all the instruments of statecraft, at home and abroad. PresidentBush underscored this during his September 15, 2005, speech to world leaders at the UN in NewYork. He spoke about confronting threats directly, engaging the enemy, disrupting terroristnetworks, denying enemies safe haven, building international coalitions, forging treaties thatreinforce the rule of law, denying the enemy weapons of mass destruction, and changing theconditions that terrorists exploit.
 
Such conditions include, among others, a shifting mix of international geopolitics, economics,religion, ideology, ignorance, cultural stress, and intolerant political systems that offer little roomfor political expression or personal freedom. This environment enables terrorist leaders toadvance their own agenda, to exert influence, to recruit, and to escalate local conflicts. Tyrannydoes afford our terrorist enemies an advantage.Terrorism-conducive conditions can converge in specific geographic areas, often in illiberalsocieties and lawless or nondemocratic states, where the enemy can establish safe haven. Tribalregions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, illiberal and undergoverned by legitimate stateauthority, provide al Qaeda leaders such refuge. Illiberal and ambitious Iran sponsorsinternational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, as proxy forces and hinders cooperation withinthe region on anti-al Qaeda policies. Nondemocratic and illiberal Syria does the same. Countriesthat lack functioning law enforcement structures in part or all of their territories provide lawlessspaces in which terrorists can operate.Of course, terrorists have also found space to operate in democratic states, as Gause notes.Democracies, however, have an advantage in their ability to rise to the occasion and implementneeded reforms with popular consent. States with liberal institutions and democratic systems canthereby respond to terror with greater public support and, in the long run, greater effectivenessthan authoritarian states can.For example, in the past, the United States has imposed structural restrictions on itself,encumbering the flow of information between intelligence services and law enforcementorganizations and among local, state, and federal agencies. Since the 9/11 attacks, however, theUnited States, using the democratic process, has moved aggressively to "give this nation a broadand coordinated homeland defense," as President Bush recently put it. Similarly, the UnitedKingdom reacted to the July 7, 2005, bombings in London through democratic means, promptlyenacting new laws against incitement to terrorism and encouraging civic society to engagedisaffected Muslim youth.
 
Counterterrorism actions in democracies reflect the will of citizens, and citizens feel integratedinto the overall actions of their government. In contrast, fighting terror with oppressioneventually leads to more of both.There are other global benefits accruing from democratization. The free flow of informationwithin and among democracies builds stronger, more flexible, more dynamic societies that arebetter positioned to fight an enemy employing international terror as a tactic. The global war onterror requires a global response, and democracies working together enhance one another'sresponses far more effectively than do nondemocratic states, where the flow of intelligence andtrust is limited. New and emerging democracies not only provide viable, legitimate recourse fortheir own citizens' grievances, but also offer greater opportunities for counterterrorismpartnerships with other democracies. Interdependent, networked liberal institutions throughoutthe globe, reinforced by the structure of democratic governments, provide the best means todefeat the interdependent, networked terrorist cells of radical extremists who seek to destroydemocracy and, in fact, the nation-state system itself.Not surprisingly, the terrorist enemy opposes democracy, because he understands the gravethreat it poses to his plans. Al Qaeda leaders have specifically railed against the notion of democracy, seeking to label it as heretical, and terrorists have killed innocent Afghans simply forhaving voter registration cards. The people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and elsewhereunderstand and appreciate the importance of democracy in the fight against those who embraceterror. The citizens of emerging democracies demonstrate their courage and tenacity every timethey register and vote, striking body blows against enemy forces. Fouad Ajami, writing inForeign Affairs ("The Autumn of the Autocrats," May/June 2005), noted that the United States"has signaled its willingness to gamble on the young, the new, and the unknown. ... Now theArabs, grasping for a new world, and the Americans, who helped usher in this unprecedentedmoment, together ride this storm wave of freedom."The Bush administration contends that the push for democracy in the Muslim world will improveU.S. security. But this premise is faulty: there is no evidence that democracy reduces terrorism.Indeed, a democratic Middle East would probably result in Islamist governments unwilling tocooperate with Washington.
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