If the US really acts for the good of Africa, it should treat Africa truly as an equal and respect the independent choices and wills of the African people.
Democracy and governance is an old topic, listed as one of the three themes on the first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit. The Americans turned this summit into another lecture on democracy, rejecting the bad students – leaders of the four African countries of Zimbabwe, Sudan, Eritrea and Central African Republic, allowing people to see the thorn of America's hegemonism unable to be covered by the coat of democracy.
In determining the yardsticks for democracy, the Americans never listens, never being democratic. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak used to be America's important ally before losing power, but was abandoned immediately by the US as a "dictator" after the start of unrest in Egypt. Robert Mugabe was once praised by the US as a "model of democracy", but soon turned into a "dictator" when his land reform touched upon the interests of the US and Britain, and was thus sanctioned by the US. Through the general election last year, Robert Mugabe was elected president once again, with the results widely acknowledged by the international community including western countries, but he was still rejected by the US.
The question is, if the US is Africa's "equal partner" as its leaders said loudly in public, why doesn't the US respect African countries' rights to independently choose and improve their development paths? Why doesn't the US respect African leaders elected by their own people? Why can't Africans decide whether they are democratic or not there?
As for why it is necessary to export democracy, American scholars have always been advocating the "democratic peace theory" and "democratic development theory", i.e., democracy is the precondition for peace, with democracy the world will be peaceful and therefore achieve development. When receiving an interview with The Economist, the US leader said that the US had spent blood and treasure for world peace to safeguard principles. However, has the world become more peaceful and safer due to the US' actions to safeguard peace and democracy?
The US launched more wars than any other countryafter the end of the Cold War. "To bring democracy and freedom to the people there" and establish a "new democratic country", the US military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere created enormous humanitarian disasters. Africa is not free from that. With the US involvement, "dictator" Qaddafi was brought down, yet the Pandora's Box in Libya was opened. What democracy has brought the country is disaster instead of peace, freedom and development. It is obvious that all these interventions have considerable American geo-political interests behind, rather than as being selfless and noble as it has described.
Everybody knows that democracy is a good thing. But democracy needs to undergo a natural process of development. Even the western democracies have gone through a long process of evolution. It took the American women over 80 years to win equal electoral right to men. Even today, the defects of America's own democratic institutions are emerging. The bipartisan struggle even shut down the US government. Western elites begin to make reflections, believing that there is something wrong with the American style of democracy, which needs "medical treatment".
The US often claims to be the lecturer of democracy, believing that it knows Africa better than the African people and imposing its will on Africa. Such illusion is harmful both to others and to itself. It is advisable that the US learns more about Africa's national conditions and gives more consideration to the feelings of the African people. After all, it is up to Africans to decide on their own democracy.
If the US really acts for the good of Africa, it should treat Africa truly as an equal and respect the independent choices and wills of the African people.
(Bell-ring, August 18th, 2014, People's Daily)
