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Events >> The Democratic Invention Lecture Series >> Jean Daniel
Editor of LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, France
May 11, 1998 |
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"Nation and Democracy"
In his comments for the International Forum's Democratic Invention lecture series, Jean Daniel explained his vision of democracy's future, one that transcends national boundaries but that cannot be imposed upon any nation. Daniel also explained that there are some countries not suited for democracy--a fact many refuse to accept. Daniel began by using his native land, France and Europe, as an example. On May 2, 1998, the European Union (EU), already an unprecedented union of fifteen west European countries, declared that eleven of its members would be joining the European Monetary Union (EMU) at the outset of the millennium. For Daniel, it was truly a momentous occasion to see these independent nations unify as a community of democracies. The most surprising sacrifice in this endeavor was Germany's relinquishing of the mark upon the altar of the EMU for the purpose of strengthening all of the EU's democracies. For the future, Daniel sees citizenship being the next issue for debate; as the citizens of the EU's various nations live in each other's countries, what rights will they have? Daniel believes that slowly but surely, EU citizens will be accorded full rights of citizens, even voting, because the EU is a community of such similar democracies. Thus in the efforts of the EU and the EMU, the erosion of the traditional concept of democracy being limited to geographic nation-states is evident, and maybe, a harbinger of the future. Another effort being undertaken by the world's foremost democracy is seen as misguided by Daniel. He believes that the United States' efforts to promote--or impose--democracy is ill-conceived. In the foreign affairs establishment of Washington, Daniel outlined three main viewpoints, those of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, eminent political scientist Samuel Huntington, and former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot. Kissinger believes that the United States should not be in the business of "civilizing" others and should concentrate on own its interests, as advocated by Theodore Roosevelt. Huntington does not see democracy as a universal model for others; instead, the United States should concentrate on the strengthening of Western links because that is one of the West's best assets. Finally, Talbot advocated a vision much like Woodrow Wilson's, in which the spread of democracy can only help the United States; this vision has been applied by the Clinton administration in Haiti, Somalia, and Russia. Daniel does not agree with the last of these views, especially because such work by the United States is often seen as imperialistic, even if that is not the intention. Daniel argued that the United States' unique hegemony today confers it rights and responsibilities, including intervening in those places where democracy is flagging. No country, however, can or should impose a system upon the world, not even the United States. Instead, the United States needs to have a leadership role in the world community to encourage developing democracies. In the end, the world needs to come to agree on a "universal minimum," as Daniel puts it, on what people deserve. Then the world, with U.S. leadership, should implement this minimum. Books written, in chronological order: DIEU EST-IL FANATIQUE? ESSAI SUR UNE RELIGIEUSE INCAPACITE DE CROIRE, Arlea, 1996 VOYAGE AU BOUT DE LA NATION, Le Seuil, 1995 L'AMI ANGLAIS, Grasset, 1994 LA BLESSURE, Grasset, 1992 MENDES FRANCE with Jean Lacouture, Le Seuil, 1991 CETTE GRANDE LUEUR A L'EST with Youri Afanassiev, Mareen Sell, 1989 LES RELIGIONS D'UN PRESIDENT, Grasset, 1988 DE GAULLE ET L'ALGERIA, Seuil, 1986 L'ERE DES RUPTURES, Grasset 1979 LE REFUGE ET LA SOURCE, Grasset 1977 LE TEMPS QUI RESTE, Stock, 1973 L'ERREUR, Gallimard, 1953 (Special thanks to International Forum Intern, Mr. Alex Lamy, for writing this summary) |
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