In spite of the recent attention of bloggers to the current situation in Zimbabwe, I find myself needing to also make comments on Canada’s role - not only in Zimbabwe but in global democracy.

Democracy is complicated. In Canada we complain about our own democracy - the Liberals and Conservatives are SO similar…do we really have a choice? Does a vote for the NDP actually do anything? Who knows. However, compared to the democracy we’ve found in Zimbabwe this past while, I think it’s safe to say we’ve got it good.

While Canada and other nations threat sanctions on Zimbabwe to encourage president Robert Mugabe to hold fully free elections, although I am pretty sold on this “democracy” idea, I’ve got to wonder if it is really the best regime for other nations. Democracy does not answer all problems, as history has shown. While Mugabe’s tactics to win the recent election have been less than moral by Western standards, it’s not like we haven’t seen it before in industrialized democracies - think Hitler for example.

The question I am attempting to raise is not what should be done in Zimbabwe, but whether or not the world even has a role to intervene. Western democracy has taken many decades, centuries even, to develop, and has been through it’s own similar trials on its legitimacy. Perhaps this is a phase in the evolution of Zimbabwe’s democracy - much like the rule of Hitler has taught the German’s to be more aware and reorganize their political system to dilute power among many. Let’s look also at the recent situation in Afghanistan - where NATO forces are attempting to stabilize the country and implement a democratic system of government. Until Afghanistan is ready to build it’s own style of democracy, outside forces cannot simply give it to the nation and expect it to work right away. Like our own systems, nations new to democracy need to be able to “work out the bugs” through trial and error.

As Canadians, most of us value personal freedom on democracy, myself included. However, elsewhere in the world, democracy may not be as valued. To what extent are democratic nations pushing their own ideas onto countries that are not ready for them. This is also a question of values - some nations value stability and equality over personal choice. Let’s face it, there are cons as well as pros to Western style democracy, and maybe these cons are more overwhelming to some than the cons of dictatorship.

While I myself am a true supporter of democracy, I would only like to pose the question: does Canada have a right or even a responsibility to intervene in nations where democracy is threatened, or is this simply pushing Western values onto nations that aren’t ready (and may never be ready) to open up to these ideas?