After the Cold War ended, much promise was held out that the world would rapidly democratize -- particularly states with notoriously poor human rights records such as China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.
Alas, these were utopian dreams. We were told that transferring large amounts of wealth and technology to authoritarian regimes would make them richer and free -- only the former took place. We educated their leaders, often at our taxpayers' expense, with the promise that these Western educated leaders would usher in a new era of freedom in their home countries. This, too, failed to come to pass. What we often saw was our transferred knowledge being used against us, and to repress other peoples.
The latest Freedom House publication on Freedom in the World for 2015 confirms the pessimism:
For the ninth consecutive year, Freedom in the World, Freedom House's annual report on the condition of global political rights and civil liberties, showed an overall decline. Indeed, acceptance of democracy as the world's dominant form of government -- and of an international system built on democratic ideals ... is under greater threat than at any point in the last 25 years ... developments in 2014 were exceptionally grim. The report's findings show that nearly twice as many countries suffered declines as registered gains.
As the reports' authors note, "just as disturbing as the statistical decline was the open disdain for democratic standards that colored the words and actions of autocratic governments during the year. Until recently, most authoritarian regimes claimed to respect international agreements and paid lip service to the norms of competitive elections and human rights. They now increasingly flout democratic values, argue for the superiority of what amounts to one-party rule, and seek to throw off the constraints of fundamental diplomatic principles."
Only 46 percent of the world's countries, and just 40 percent of its total population, are rated as free. The majority of the planet lives under varying degrees of tyranny -- and as we see in the West, outcroppings of tyranny continue to fester and emerge in our "free" nations.
"For some time now, the momentum of world politics has favored democracy's adversaries," said the Freedom House report. This is deeply troubling news as the West continues to sleepwalk through major foreign policy crises and domestic pressures.
The situation is especially dire in the new democracies of Central Europe, Latin America, and Asia, where "the institutions meant to ensure fair elections, a combative press, checks on state power, and probity in government and commerce are showing wear and tear."
Of course, Cuba remains "the Americas' worst-rated country in Freedom in the World," with no change in its freedom index during recent years -- attesting to the folly of easing international sanctions and isolation of this communist dictatorship.
The report raises serious concerns about what is taking place in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what is rapidly becoming an authoritarian Islamic state within the Western fabric of NATO and the OECD. Turkey is a member of the troublesome and threatening Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, is still considering purchasing Russia's S-300 air and missile defense system, wants to buy long-range anti-missile systems from China "even though they wouldn't be compatible with NATO weapons," is "urgently" seeking armed drones for unknown purposes, and is generally breaking from the West on defense, and yet "Turkey's booming defense sector is making it a 'priority market' for many Canadian companies."
This latter point seems most unwise. It should be apparent that transferring advanced military technology to an Islamic nation who is moving away from its former Western alliances and loyalties into an Eastern orbit may bode ill in the future.
While some may remain optimistic about freedom's long-term progress, the realists recognize the post-Cold War honeymoon is long over. It was a geopolitical honeymoon that the West should have never taken in the first place.
Sierra Rayne holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and writes regularly on environment, energy, and national security topics. He can be found on Twitter at @srayne_ca
