The Candidates and the Dictator
EDITORIAL The Candidates and the Dictator It seems naive, moralistic, even "Wilsonian" to say it, but say it we must: Elections matter. The consent of the governed matters. Democracy matters....
...Neither seems to understand that what matters most in international politics is the character of the regime...
...that a "realistic" foreign policy would focus on regime-improvement and regime-change...
...And somehow the Russians, whom we supposedly had antagonized irrevocably by our military action there, have been reasonably well behaved over the past week...
...Certainly the U.S...
...He also helped democratize and liberalize Latin America and parts of Asia...
...It will also be a victory for sanctions—that "moralistic" foreign policy tool much derided by our latter-day Bismarcks...
...They should each (or even jointly) warn Milosevic that he will get no break at all if he tries to hang on until after our elections...
...The September 24 vote against Slobodan Milosevic may prove to be the beginning of his end...
...Bush allowed Saddam to hang on to power and backed down before Milosevic...
...Thanks to the elections in Yugoslavia, though, Bush and Gore now have an opportunity to break from the pseudo-realist consensus of the past decade...
...At a minimum, both should express support for the brave people of Serbia...
...He should clear up any confusion on this score...
...Foreign policy "realists" hate it when elections fundamentally change the geopolitical situation...
...Because if Milosevic goes—however imperfect his replacement, Vojislav Kostunica, proves to be—it will turn out, we predict, that many of the "intractable" "centuries-old" "ghosts-of-history" problems in the Balkans will recede as well...
...George W. Bush could be of some assistance here...
...Neither presidential candidate so far as we can tell thinks it might be appropriate to give even a nod to the desirability of democracy in China...
...A Bush statement calling on Milosevic to respect the will of the people and step down would show a united front to the Serbian strongman, and would be in the national interest as well as in Bush's own...
...Perhaps they respect force Bush's comments about withdrawing American troops from the Balkans may have emboldened Milosevic...
...If Milosevic goes, it will be a victory for democracy...
...That's why they've been so consistently wrong in the last two decades—wrong on both right and left, wrong about the Philippines in 1986 and Nicaragua in 1990, wrong about Poland and Russia, and wrong now about Yugoslavia...
...more than weakness...
...That's why it never occurs to them to suggest democracy for nations that lack it...
...And it was a vastly better record than the "realists" have since managed...
...government and its NATO allies should do everything they can in this delicate period to help the citizens of Serbia rid themselves of their dictator...
...When Jim Lehrer asks them about Yugoslavia Tuesday night, it would be nice if our candidates gave an answer worthy of an American president...
...intervention...
...It would further vindicate our use of force in Kosovo, much derided by sophisticates as foolish and pointless...
...Neither candidate has made nearly enough of the fact that Taiwan has had a successful democratic transfer of power right off the coast of the mainland...
...By doing just that—by focusing on elections, and freedom, and the desire of ordinary citizens around the world for a voice in their governments—Ronald Reagan won the Cold War and helped free Central and Eastern Europe...
...with the exception of belated efforts in Bosnia and Kosovo, Clinton and Gore have mostly followed along...
...China, for instance...
...And it will be a victory for U.S...
...His campaign's shortsighted comments about possible withdrawal of American troops from the Balkans may have emboldened Milosevic to believe that it is in his interest to hang on until a possible Bush victory in November...
...The same cannot be said, alas, for many in our own foreign policy establishment...
...It was the high-water mark for American foreign policy in the last half century...
...Perhaps they even respect democracy a bit...
...He should clear up any confusion...
...William Kristol...
Vol. 6 • October 2000 • No. 4
