III. Scan the article. Extract the topical vocabulary. Formulate the key ideas expressed by the author.

Democracy – it’s not for everyone

By H.D.S. Greenway

WINSTON CHURCHILL once said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time. But Churchill was speaking from the mother of parliaments in 1947, in an age that had emerged from the fascist darkness only to see the iron curtain of Communism descending across Europe. India and Pakistan had just gained their freedom, but most of the other lands in what came to be called the Third World were still in the grip of European colonialism.

How has democracy fared in the decades since? It has thrived in Eastern Europe since the end of Soviet empire 20 years ago. It has served India well and Pakistan badly. In much of Africa democracy has provided a shell under which gangsters plunder and beggar their people.

Recently, a stolen election in Afghanistan has been a disaster for American hopes and policy. There will soon be another election in Iraq that will do little to heal that bitterly divided country.

George W. Bush and his neo-conservatives put a great deal of store in the transformational power of democracy. Overthrowing Saddam Hussein in Iraq, many naively believed, would transform the Middle East from the authoritarian rule of sheiks and emirs to a Western democracy that would be friendly to Israel.

Instead of the invasion of Iraq transforming the Middle East, the realities of the Middle East transformed Iraq. Democracy has not brought divergent Iraqi interests together, nor has it erased the divisions of ethnicity and tribe. And there seems little chance that Iraq will be opening an embassy in Tel Aviv any time soon.

Perhaps the best to be hoped for Iraq is that it emerges into something like Lebanon, a troubled land at best, driven with factions and prone to undue influence from other countries.

Jessica Stern, in her book “Terror in the Name of God,” wrote that “democratization is not necessarily the best way to fight Islamic extremism. Most states that attempt to transition from autocracy to democracy get stuck in a kind of in between state. And electoral democracy does not necessarily imply liberal democracy. ..” Too often Western-style democracy just leads to cronyism and kleptocracy.

It would be hard to argue now that a traditional loyal jirga, in which Afghan tribal elders get together to decide who rules, wouldn't have been better than insisting on a Western-style election in Afghanistan.

Churchill, were he alive today, might have said democracy is the best of all forms of government in countries that have the necessary institutions in place and are ready for it. All democracies need elections, but not all elections lead to democracy.

SECTION V

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.
EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES.
STUDY AND RESEARCH VISITS

As international contacts become an integral part of modern life there are growing possibilities to take part in various exchange programmes. Every researcher is interested in the achievements of his colleagues abroad. A study or research visit provides an
excellent opportunity to get acquainted with foreign experience in one’s special field. International scientific cooperation is the key trend in the development of modern world science. The BSU
maintains close contacts with a wide range of universities abroad. German, Austrian, Polish, British, American universities
encourage our students and post-graduates to participate in
scientific exchange programmes.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 475