So our friend has been re-elected. Why this should be so remains a mystery to most of us present here at IMD. What is our response? Do we shrug our shoulders and wander our own way? Do we condem democracy - or the democratic process - for its apparent irrationality? Indeed, can we not see and admit, with the historian Eric Hobsbawm (in Foreign Policy), that democracy “is dangerous”? (because it rides roughshod over tradition, creates a poorer civil society, etc)
Let us for once take “democracy” seriously and consider, given the enormous impact of the US elections on the rest of the world, whether it is time to enfranchise the rest of world citizenry? Shouldn’t we have a vote in future American presidential elections? Why can’t we acknowledge the causal chain from the choice of an Ohio school-teacher and American foreign policy in the Middle East? Why should we not build on this obvious correlation - and its impact on peace and stability - and insist on taking on board the voices of non-Americans?
Here’s what someone wrote on a newsgroup:
“The only way to prevent further attack is to implement a reasonable foreign policy that’s not imperialistic, exclusionary, preemptive, profiteering, or overly aggressive.”
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