Sonofabitchism

Greg Djerejian is out with some worthwhile reading on the situation in Uzbekistan. Countering the hypocrisy argument, he discusses at length the efforts of our embassy in Tashkent to promote various types of reform. While I agree that these efforts are worth noting and that change in a place like Uzbekistan does not come easily, something about this struck me as discordant in light of the mini-Tiananmen Square that just occurred. To Greg's credit, he does end in an appropriately pressing tone.

I think Uzbekistan is a great example of how "sonofabitchism" turns the traditional definitions of realism and idealism inside-out; to me, it seems utterly pragmatic right now to place democratic ideals above geopolitical exigencies in Uzbekistan and around the world. There are several reasons for this. Bush has defined our national mission--and his own presidency--as supporting the growth of global democracy. So what happens when hundreds of civilians are killed at a demonstration against a dictator with whom we've cast our lot? Mosques, cafes and campuses in places like Cairo, Tehran, Rabat and Amman brim with "it's business as usual" cynicism. A generation ago we could get away with this. But now, media is global and information travels too quickly. Photos like this are seen immediately and remain in permanent one-click accessibility on the internet. And when protestors are killed in Uzbekistan, millions of people around the world immediately click on photos of Bush having a comfy fireside chat in the Oval Office with Karimov. It doesn't help that those photos are sometimes on the same webpage as victims of Karimov's torture who have been boiled to death.

Is it more realistic and pragmatic to acknowledge this new reality, or to live in the "sonofabitchism" of the past and continue to coddle tyrants like Karimov, Mubarak, Musharraf, and a dozen others? In my opinion, the latter has come to represent delusional idealism and does not acknowledge a variety of new global social and technological realities.

The manifestation of this? Take a look at the nationalities of the 9/11 hijackers; they were from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE--all non-democratic allies of ours, as is Uzbekistan. Ayman Al-Zawahiri was radicalized by years of torture in Mubarak's jails, and Zarqawi was similarly hardened by torture in Jordan--the same two regimes to which we currently send suspects for the same torture. We live in an age in which a dozen similar victims of our traditional "sonofabitchism" can destroy an economy or a city--and as time passes, this horrible capability will only grow. What future threats are incubating right now in Karimov's jail cells despite the good work our embassy there is doing?

Can anyone still argue that the old model of realpolitik has not broken down? How much more proof do we need that what was once geopolitical pragmatism is now in many cases self-sabotage as well as dangerous cognitive dissonance?

We've created a new game, with one small problem: we're playing by the old rules.