America's problem with democracy...and India

So America has found a new target in Libya. The air strikes and missile launches have begun and US President Barack Obama has declared that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must go.

Really? Gaddafi has been running the country for 42 years now. He took office when Richard Nixon was heading America. After Nixon, Obama is the seventh president to take office. What has changed now?

The Americans say that the people of Libya want a change. But since when have they really cared about public opinion? Why are some public outcries met with warm open arms and others given downright cold shoulders?

The truth is that America wants to do business with all countries on their terms and expect all world leaders to kowtow to them.

Usually it is only dictators that are willing to play ball and that's why they back them and go against most democracies. Problem dictators like Gaddafi are usually replaced by more pliable dictators. In fact Libya has been one of the biggest failures of American foreign policy and they must be eager to rectify that.

Friends at the bottom...

The Economist Intelligence Unit has created a Democracy Index that measures the state of democracy in the world. In the last assessment, it included 167 countries. The top 3 democracies are Norway, Iceland and Denmark.

It is interesting to note that many of America's friends are at the bottom of this list. In a way it has helped many countries stay totally away from democracy.

At 160th position is Saudi Arabia, America's biggest oil partner. America plays a great role in propping up the authoritarian regime there using both economic and diplomatic power. Human rights issues don't bother it as long as the oil keeps flowing.

Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis and yet the action was directed at Iraq and Iran. It is interesting to note that there were many newspaper articles saying that the then President George W Bush helped some of Osama bin Laden's relatives fly out of America without even being questioned.

At 150th position is Afghanistan. That is one country where America, Russia and Pakistan have got together to ensure that nothing but anarchy reigns.

The Russians propped up an unpopular President Mohammed Najibullah in the 1990s. America armed the mujahideen, which turned against them. Pakistan created the Taliban to complete the chaos. Perfect anti-democracy cocktail!

At 138 is Egypt. Now who has been Hosni Mubarak's best friend in the world? America of course! He ruled for 30 years. Why were there no democracy concerns during this long period?

In fact not even one Arab country is high on the Democracy Index list and this is one region where America has shown the maximum interference.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran for a whopping 38 years thanks to US support. In neighbouring Iraq too Saddam Hussein was an American creation and had to go only when he turned on his masters.

Former US presidential candidate Ross Perot said in the Washington Post on the ethics of the 1991 Gulf War:

''We rescued the emir of Kuwait. Now if I knock on your door and say I'd like to borrow your son to go to the Middle East so that this dude with 70 wives, who's got a minister for sex to find him a virgin every Thursday night, can have his throne back, you'd probably hit me in the mouth.''

South America is another zone where dictator upon dictator has been propped up just to justify their far-fetched foreign and diplomatic theories.

The India problem

India has had two major foreign policy headaches: Pakistan and China. Both are authoritarian regimes. Both have been great friends of America. In a convoluted way you could say that America has been our biggest enemy.

So in Asia too, America has been warm to the two biggest anti-democracies at the same time being pretty cold to the world's largest and most flourishing democracy.

The Indo-US thaw is coming on the back of our burgeoning economy, IT and the success of Indian Americans. But we still remain behind China-Pak in their priorities. Democracy can take a walk.

Of course there are exceptions like the UK. But that's mainly because the British Prime Minister is a mere rubber stamp of the President of USA. There's Japan too, but that country has played a largely dependent role following World War 2.

There is no doubt that America is a great democracy. But that is only on the inside, where they have great achievements in science, culture and sports. Compared to many of their global counterparts, their politicians are qualified, good orators and surrounded by brilliant minds.

But outside its geographical borders, America is one of the biggest inhibitors of democracy the world has ever known.

That's one of the world's biggest foreign policy contradictions!

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The author is a Bangalore-based journalist and blogger. He blogs at http://sunilrajguru.com/