si
afterthought, and that’s what stuck in people’s minds. That was a mistake, because it kind of undermined the notion of democracy
promotion, simply because it was connected to a very unpopular
intervention.
SHAFFER: Taking lessons from that, what can we do to promote democracy in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring’?
FUKUYAMA: We already are doing a lot. We’ve got organizations like the National Democratic Institute, or the International Republican Institute, that are all over Tunisia and Egypt and Libya, and other places, trying to help them organize political parties, trade unions, civil-society organizations, that hopefully will allow the more Western-oriented democrats in those Arab countries to actually contest in the elections. As we move toward votes in Tunisia and Egypt we want to have some alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood and the military. So we’re giving them that kind of assistance right now. That’s difficult, because they haven’t had experience with democracy previously.
It’s a long-term struggle, and I think we’ll be disappointed in the short run. I don’t think the more pro-Western forces are the ones that will end up on top in the short-run. But we’ve got to start somewhere.
SHAFFER: Is the spread of liberal democracy dependent upon persisting American hegemony?
FUKUYAMA: It’s been helpful. The U.S. obviously plays a big role in maintaining a liberal, open world order, through its alliances and the influence it projects. And American ideas have been very dominant in the world especially in the last two decades. A lot of that is shifting now because of the rise of other powers and other ideas.
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