Election or democracy?
Foreign intervention in elections is like playing golf — only the elites play
About half of Americans now believe that Trump should be impeached. The bone of contention is that Trump sought foreign intervention in American elections for his personal gain. (Photo: AFP)
American newspapers and broadcast media punditry are heavily consumed by President Trump’s phone call to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenski, in Trump’s quest to find “dirt” on Joseph Biden’s son, a serious presidential candidate who could potentially beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election. He dangled American aid to Ukraine but put this dirt-finding task as a condition by saying, “I would like you to do us a favour though”.
And now the latest news story is about Trump’s call to the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, where Trump asked him to investigate his own country, Australia, because it was the Aussies that first told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about Russia’s overtures to the Trump campaign back in 2016, offering “dirt” on Hillary. That had triggered the Mueller investigation that consumed America for a good two years, the result of which was no different from that of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final.
About half of Americans now believe that Trump should be impeached. The bone of contention is that Trump sought foreign intervention in American elections for his personal gain. This was no diplomacy for the sake of American interests. Trump pressed these foreign leaders for his personal benefit. Without a doubt, seeking foreign intervention in one’s own country is bad enough. The founding fathers of the United States (US) Constitution created safeguards against such urges. However, hypocrisy is on full display since Washington, for decades, engineered election outcomes, assassinated, kidnapped and removed elected leaders, and unleashed propaganda campaigns around the world justifying its destructive actions.
The mindset is that foreign intervention in elections is like playing golf — only the elites play. Election engineering is what we do to others, not in reverse. What is also worth paying attention to is that these interventions in American elections, whether by Russia or Ukraine, are for controlling American minds rather than a more direct manipulation of elections that the US orchestrates abroad, such as ballot fraud and closing voting centres in the name of security.
The real issue here is to understand the link between elections and democracy. The ballot doesn’t guarantee the existence of democracy but rather the other way around. There has to be a culture of democracy with strong and independent institutions. Ballot is a tiny fraction of the democratic project. Treating it as the key to democracy is a mistake. The real test of democracy begins once the elected executive is in office. People should be able to participate in every step of this democratic journey, not just elections.
American foreign policy is influenced by foreign countries for their own interests. Israel is one such case. It lobbies aggressively to manipulate public opinion in the US and shapes US foreign policy to benefit Israel even at America’s own peril. The practice of democracy is the real crown jewel of a democratic project. President Bush invaded Iraq based on intelligence that was solely based on information provided by Ahmed Chalabi, a foreigner. The entire case for war was based on lies. Bush used foreign help in making the war case at home to achieve a personal agenda — his grudge against Saddam, the search for oil, and a market for arms. What about that?
Interestingly, foreign interference in practice, such as US foreign policy in the Middle East, is tolerated and even encouraged. The country has no qualms about foreign influence over its foreign policy. The message to foreigners is simple: meddle in our democracy and shape our policies all you want, but after we have elected our president, not before. Elections are sacrosanct to us not what happens afterwards.
There cannot be a democracy without an election but the latter doesn’t guarantee the former. Corrupt and despotic regimes hold elections with a majority outcome in favour of the strongman. If elections were the ultimate test of democracy then many despotic regimes are perfect democracies.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2019.
And now the latest news story is about Trump’s call to the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, where Trump asked him to investigate his own country, Australia, because it was the Aussies that first told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about Russia’s overtures to the Trump campaign back in 2016, offering “dirt” on Hillary. That had triggered the Mueller investigation that consumed America for a good two years, the result of which was no different from that of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final.
About half of Americans now believe that Trump should be impeached. The bone of contention is that Trump sought foreign intervention in American elections for his personal gain. This was no diplomacy for the sake of American interests. Trump pressed these foreign leaders for his personal benefit. Without a doubt, seeking foreign intervention in one’s own country is bad enough. The founding fathers of the United States (US) Constitution created safeguards against such urges. However, hypocrisy is on full display since Washington, for decades, engineered election outcomes, assassinated, kidnapped and removed elected leaders, and unleashed propaganda campaigns around the world justifying its destructive actions.
The mindset is that foreign intervention in elections is like playing golf — only the elites play. Election engineering is what we do to others, not in reverse. What is also worth paying attention to is that these interventions in American elections, whether by Russia or Ukraine, are for controlling American minds rather than a more direct manipulation of elections that the US orchestrates abroad, such as ballot fraud and closing voting centres in the name of security.
The real issue here is to understand the link between elections and democracy. The ballot doesn’t guarantee the existence of democracy but rather the other way around. There has to be a culture of democracy with strong and independent institutions. Ballot is a tiny fraction of the democratic project. Treating it as the key to democracy is a mistake. The real test of democracy begins once the elected executive is in office. People should be able to participate in every step of this democratic journey, not just elections.
American foreign policy is influenced by foreign countries for their own interests. Israel is one such case. It lobbies aggressively to manipulate public opinion in the US and shapes US foreign policy to benefit Israel even at America’s own peril. The practice of democracy is the real crown jewel of a democratic project. President Bush invaded Iraq based on intelligence that was solely based on information provided by Ahmed Chalabi, a foreigner. The entire case for war was based on lies. Bush used foreign help in making the war case at home to achieve a personal agenda — his grudge against Saddam, the search for oil, and a market for arms. What about that?
Interestingly, foreign interference in practice, such as US foreign policy in the Middle East, is tolerated and even encouraged. The country has no qualms about foreign influence over its foreign policy. The message to foreigners is simple: meddle in our democracy and shape our policies all you want, but after we have elected our president, not before. Elections are sacrosanct to us not what happens afterwards.
There cannot be a democracy without an election but the latter doesn’t guarantee the former. Corrupt and despotic regimes hold elections with a majority outcome in favour of the strongman. If elections were the ultimate test of democracy then many despotic regimes are perfect democracies.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2019.