John Kyl and Democracy Promotion

John Kyl criticized Obama for failing to follow up on George W. Bush's program of democracy promotion, and thus putting himself in a more awkward position in relation to the crisis in Egypt. Kyl said, "We might be in a better position if we had more closely followed President Bush's prescription for support of greater democracy in all parts of the world. If we had maintained that position and had that reputation in the world ... then our calls today for restraint would have more credibility because the people of Egypt would know our heart was with their desire for greater representation." There does not seem to be much support for this contention.

President Bush certainly did give America a reputation in the world, and particularly in the Middle East, but I'm not sure it was a reputation for being a champion of democracy. Obama personally has been able to maintain a more favorable perception than Bush outside America from the very start of his Presidency. It has certainly been argued, often quite convincingly, that the Bush presidency did serious harm to America's reputation in the world.

Bush talked a lot about spreading democracy, but it is far from clear that he did much of that in practice. I suppose there is democracy in Iraq, but the price they paid was pretty steep and it would be hard to call what they have stable. Afghanistan isn't exactly a stable democracy either. It might even be said that with his administrations positions on torture and the use of military tribunals, he hurt the perception and maybe the reality of American democracy.

What Bush truly did not have, was a pragmatic view of the world. He, and his policy team, had a vision that he imposed on the world, whether or not it fit. He got into wars without being prepared for what would happen when he won. He labeled countries as evil. He wasted a lot of the goodwill that existed towards America in the wake of 9/11. What Obama has proven to have thus far is a measured, pragmatic, and flexible approach to politics. He has a more realistic and open eyed approach to the world that resembles the first President Bush's approach.

Of course there is one other problem with Kyl's attack. Bush was president for eight years. What did he accomplish as far as the democratization of Egypt?

To criticize President Obama's response to Egypt on the basis that he didn't follow up on what Bush did to endear the country to the Arab masses is silly at best and at worst, and most likely despite Kyl's protestations, is a cynical attempt to discredit Obama for political reasons.