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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

. . . And Grows Some More.

In a development reveals the depth of the fracture, Francis Fukuyama says he no longer supports neoconservatism.

Fukuyama has been nothing short of a neocon apostle, but as the third anniversary of the war in Iraq approaches, he says in a New York Times commentary that it's time to move on. Seems that Frank has gotten a little weary of the U.S.'s heavy-handed efforts to impose democracy, let alone at point of gun as it has in Iraq.

The money quotes:

Now that the neoconservative moment appears to have passed, the United States needs to reconceptualize its foreign policy in several fundamental ways. In the first instance, we need to demilitarize what we have been calling the global war on terrorism and shift to other types of policy instruments. . . . "War" is the wrong metaphor for the broader struggle, since wars are fought at full intensity and have clear beginnings and endings.

. . . If we are serious about the good governance agenda, we have to shift our focus to the reform, reorganization and proper financing of those institutions of the United States government that actually promote democracy, development and the rule of law around the world, organizations like the State Department, U.S.A.I.D., the National Endowment for Democracy and the like. . . . By definition, outsiders can't "impose" democracy on a country that doesn't want it; demand for democracy and reform must be domestic. Democracy promotion is therefore a long-term and opportunistic process that has to await the gradual ripening of political and economic conditions to be effective.

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