The news out of Cairo does not bode well for “President” Mubarak’s government in Egypt. Following the ouster of the long standing government in Tunisia, the trend in North Africa is a little disturbing.
I know that peace in the international community requires that our government forge alliances with standing foreign governments that don’t resemble our own whether that be in structure or values.
If you believe that everyone in the world should believe what we believe then our government’s mission is to convert them to our way of thinking; regardless of the ramifications.
I suspect that foreign countries who have a strong belief in their structure of government would advocate for their own model.
That does create a source of conflict for us and them.
If we can agree that China, Russia, North Korea or Iran is entitled to adopt positions on human rights that are different from our own without us criticizing them, then we can co-exist by agreeing to disagree. If we cannot agree on this, then we are doomed to fight for the overthrow of their governments so we can install one more sympathetic to our own personal world view.
In spite of our differences, we have been good friends with President Mubarak for decades. That relationship has been the foundation for peace in North Africa.
So now, our foreign policy is in a quandary. Do we support a President and a government that has been such a great friend to peace in the region but in conflict with our social view of the world or do we throw him over to the uncertainty of an unknown government?
On the one hand, if the new government supported our human rights agenda, then we could get on board and root for the overthrow. On the other hand, if this were to signal the shift of power to a non-secular Muslim controlled government that did little to address human rights issues but put the power in the hands of the people would that be better or worse than what we have today?
The problem we face in imposing our social agenda on the world is convincing them that what we have works better than what they already have.
It is clear that we are divided in our own country about whether one agenda is preferable to another so how is it that we can impose our conflict on everyone else?
We support kings and dictators all around the globe because it serves the security needs of our country. Do we send the message to them that even though we have treaties with them we are working behind the scenes to overthrow their governments?
When did it become our job to make these decisions for the rest of the world? The mine field we have entered in the past couple weeks with Tunisia and Egypt will have repercussions around the globe because our treaties don’t promise to defend against internal threats.
Our current administration champions the undermining of long standing governments if it furthers their social agenda even if it achieves their goals at the cost of security in the world. This turn of events in North Africa is not a good omen for peace between nations.
No Loss for Words
What’s Happening in Africa?
by Steve DanaThe news out of Cairo does not bode well for “President” Mubarak’s government in Egypt. Following the ouster of the long standing government in Tunisia, the trend in North Africa is a little disturbing.
I know that peace in the international community requires that our government forge alliances with standing foreign governments that don’t resemble our own whether that be in structure or values.
If you believe that everyone in the world should believe what we believe then our government’s mission is to convert them to our way of thinking; regardless of the ramifications.
I suspect that foreign countries who have a strong belief in their structure of government would advocate for their own model.
That does create a source of conflict for us and them.
If we can agree that China, Russia, North Korea or Iran is entitled to adopt positions on human rights that are different from our own without us criticizing them, then we can co-exist by agreeing to disagree. If we cannot agree on this, then we are doomed to fight for the overthrow of their governments so we can install one more sympathetic to our own personal world view.
In spite of our differences, we have been good friends with President Mubarak for decades. That relationship has been the foundation for peace in North Africa.
So now, our foreign policy is in a quandary. Do we support a President and a government that has been such a great friend to peace in the region but in conflict with our social view of the world or do we throw him over to the uncertainty of an unknown government?
On the one hand, if the new government supported our human rights agenda, then we could get on board and root for the overthrow. On the other hand, if this were to signal the shift of power to a non-secular Muslim controlled government that did little to address human rights issues but put the power in the hands of the people would that be better or worse than what we have today?
The problem we face in imposing our social agenda on the world is convincing them that what we have works better than what they already have.
It is clear that we are divided in our own country about whether one agenda is preferable to another so how is it that we can impose our conflict on everyone else?
We support kings and dictators all around the globe because it serves the security needs of our country. Do we send the message to them that even though we have treaties with them we are working behind the scenes to overthrow their governments?
When did it become our job to make these decisions for the rest of the world? The mine field we have entered in the past couple weeks with Tunisia and Egypt will have repercussions around the globe because our treaties don’t promise to defend against internal threats.
Our current administration champions the undermining of long standing governments if it furthers their social agenda even if it achieves their goals at the cost of security in the world. This turn of events in North Africa is not a good omen for peace between nations.
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