Inevitable no more

The United States' founding proposition -- that men and women should have the right to govern themselves -- will face critical tests in 2008, not only during our own country's marathon presidential campaign but in venues across the globe. It will be the responsibility of our leaders, both current and prospective, to take a firm stand in support of democratic principles. In 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, it appeared that the global debate had been settled in freedom's favor, yet almost two decades later, the struggle to define and defend self-government still rages on every continent. Indeed, a real danger exists that the world will again be split by competing ideologies, not communist versus capitalist but democratic versus autocratic.

For a time, democracy enjoyed an aura of inevitability. No longer. In China, neither the emergence of free enterprise nor the information revolution have loosened communist control, though party chiefs have been forced to respond to popular discontent over such issues as corruption and worker safety. Leaders in Beijing now have democratic debates and votes within the party but still prohibit noncommunists from forming parties of their own. Across the border in Russia, Vladimir Putin has transformed his country's nascent democracy into a personal empire. Leaders in both countries largely ignore external criticism; in fact, they often cast it as "meddling" by the West and turn it to their rhetorical advantage.

These troubling developments are amplified by events elsewhere. An increasing number of foreign leaders now insist that the West does not understand their societies and has no right to object when they manipulate their constitutions or silence political opponents. Many officials in Africa, where Chinese investments are on the rise, find the Beijing model of economic reform without political change more congenial than free elections. In some cases, such as Nigeria and Kenya last year, elections were held but the processes were deeply flawed. In Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has stressed the need for national unity while riding roughshod over constitutional procedures, thereby exacerbating national divisions. The tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto shows that repression does not prevent violence but instead causes it to build.