Is spreading a democracy in the Middle East a bad idea?

Answer 1

It depends on how the "spreading" will occur and where in the Middle East you choose to do the spreading as to what effect it will have.

Whether or not to spread democracy in the first place is a personal view, but there is no reason why Western countries cannot use the power of their economies and benefits of membership in international treaties to push Middle Eastern states in the right directions. For example, a number of Middle Eastern countries receive AID from Western countries and for some of them, like Egypt, their economies would sink without that extra foreign cash injection. If Western countries made those AID payments contingent on respecting minority rights and having free and fair elections, that could help push for democracy in the Middle East. Tunisia just approved a democratic constitution and should be supported through free trade agreements and foreign direct investment. These are effective carrots to promote democratic ideals in the Middle East. Conversely, invading Middle Eastern countries militarily is not effective and will simply result in the invader bein named as an imperialist colonizer.

Some countries in the Middle East that are non-democratic, such as Iran, have the cultural infrastructure and civil society to nurture a democracy. The tragedy of Iran is that it is currently ruled as an authoritarian state when its people are completely capable of ruling effectively as a democracy. However, many Middle Eastern States have conflicts that derive from the tribal mentality that is present in these states. The system as set up in numerous Middle Eastern countries, such as Libya and Iraq is that each person has sole loyalty to his tribal leader and not to a national government. Each tribe promises its members better conditions at the expense of the conditions of a different tribe. One tribe ascends to power and forcibly represses the other tribes to make good on its promise. This lack of respect for countermajoritarian protections and minority rights runs counter to the understanding of liberal democracy. Additionally, many Middle Eastern countries have low literacy and education rates which prevents people from being able to select candidates effectively.