Module 20 - Professor Moser PDF

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Professor Moser...

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MODULE 20 – Democracy Promotion in US Foreign Policy 20.1 What is Democracy? **COMPETITIVE ELECTIONS Robert Dahl’s “procedural minimal” preconditions for democracy: I. Public Contestation (civil rights and liberties) A. Electoral competition B. Individual freedoms II. Inclusion A. Universal suffrage III. Democratic sovereignty 20.2 The Democratic Peace ● The Democratic Peace ○ Claim that military conflict (low levels, including threat to use force; and war) is less likely between two democratic states ○ Democracies will be peaceful toward other democracies, but not peaceful toward autocracies ○ Causes of the Democratic Peace: ■ Electoral constraints raise the political costs associated with war ■ Institutional checks and balances make peace settlements more durable because democracy helps to solve the commitment problem ■ Shared democratic identity: Democracies externalize norms of conciliation and compromise with each other and there is less public support for using military force against fellow democracy ● Critiques of the Democratic Peace ○ Puzzle for the democratic peace ■ States undergoing democratic transitions experience more conflict ○ Alternative explanations ■ A common enemy in the Soviet Union explains peace in Western Europe after WWII ■ Great power settlements, not democracy, explains peace after WWII 20.3 Democracy Promotion The Historical Ebb and Flow of Democracy Promotion in US Foreign Policy I. Wilson and Democracy Promotion after WWI A. Helped facilitate democratic transition in Germany after WWI B. Supported self-determination II. Democracy Promotion During the Cold War A. Took a back seat to primary mission of containing communism III. Democratization and End of the Cold War A. Boom for democracy promotion B. US conflict of preserving ideology and security

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C. Turned out – democracy promotion and US security went hand-in-hand Democracy Promotion after the Cold War A. Clinton going into Yugoslavia to prevent genocide and promote democracy B. Democracy promotion and Bush’s invasion of Al Qaeda C. Regime change and intro of democracy into Middle East to counter threat of terrorism post 9/11 D. Obama was committed to pulling US military out of Middle East E. Trump’s actions diminish previous action of democracy promotion

20.4 Discussion of Chertoff and Rasmussen Reading ● “Golden Age” of democracy (1991-2014) ended when Russia invaded Ukraine ● Even established democracies in U.S. and Europe are threatened with decay and even collapse ● Democracy under threat by domestic frustrations with unresponsive governments have led to rise of populism but also by hostile foreign powers deliberately using social media to undermine Democratic elections ● Use of propaganda is not new. Was a major instrument of influence for both the US and USSR during the Cold War. What is new is the power and reach of the available technologies like the internet and social media to disseminate propaganda ● Main elements of the new information warfare against democracy: ○ Reach of election interference is extensive - Besides the 2016 US presidential election, Russian interference has been identified in the UK during the Brexit vote, in elections to the EU Parliament, and in many national elections in Europe ○ Scope of election interference is “staggering” - 10% of Twitter activity in Italy and 30% in Ukraine were traced back to foreign interference ○ Russia is the main culprit but other dictatorships such as Iran, China, and North Korea have also entered into election interference ○ Some interference is geared to helping specific sympathetic politicians but most is simply trying to sow general discord and polarization ○ Right now state actors are the primary threats but soon non-state actors and even single individuals could produce credible fake videos that could deepen divides or sway elections...