Does democracy end tyranny?

Does democracy end tyranny? is a piece by Natan Sharansky in the Los Angeles Times. Sharansky is "a distinguished fellow at the Shalem Center in Israel, is a former Soviet dissident who spent nine years in a KGB prison. Later, he served as a member of the Israeli government."

Today, many people believe that the antidote to fanaticism is to open these societies to dissent, to the free exchange of ideas, to the opportunities offered by a free market and to the hope that comes with democratic life.

Based on this diagnosis, President Bush launched a bold policy that promised to give democracy a central place in American statecraft. In terms of rhetoric, the change was indeed dramatic. In his second inaugural address, Bush promised to support democratic movements everywhere with the goal of "ending tyranny" in our world. By declaring terrorists to be our enemies and democrats to be our partners, Bush injected an indispensable dose of moral clarity into U.S. policy.

But, despite what I believe to be the president's genuine commitment to promote sweeping change, the policy shift hasn't matched the rhetoric, with one glaring exception: an intense focus on holding elections everywhere as quickly as possible. This has been a mistake because, although elections are part of the democratic process, they are never a substitute for it.

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Any regime, elected or not, that works to build a free society should be seen as a partner, if not a friend. Likewise, any regime, elected or not, that chokes freedom should be seen as an adversary, if not an enemy. Obviously, any regime that supports terrorism is hostile to the most fundamental principles of a free society and should therefore be treated as an enemy.

Helping democracy take root in the Arab world will take time and persistence. Most Arab governments will try to stamp out any spark of liberty. But the democrats within these societies are our partners. We can help them by refusing to support those who repress them, and by making clear through both our statements and our policies that the efforts to expand freedom within their societies will benefit their countries as much as ours. The alternative is to return to the pre-9/11 delusion that a tyrant's repression of his own subjects has no consequences for us.

Well said.