Wolfowitz says economy is the key weapon in war on tyranny
AFP
Date: 05-20-05
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Paul Wolfowitz, a US administration hawk and architect of the Iraq war set to become World Bank president, has said peaceful revolutions have been the most effective ways in ending tyrannies over the past three decades.
In one of his final appearances as deputy defence secretary, Wolfowitz said economic and social pressures have been more successful than the use of arms since the ending of military dictatorships in Spain and Portugal in the 1970s.
Wolfowitz, who will take over as World Bank president on June 1 having been one of the most loyal supporters of US President George W. Bush's hardline tactics in Iraq and the war on terror, said that economic development was a key weapon in spreading freedom.
"The goal of ending tyranny in the world is not primarily a task of arms, in fact I would say it is rarely a task of arms," he told a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Middle East think tank.
"The greatest changes can be accomplished peacefully and I would say it is much better when they can be. Afghanistan and Iraq were exceptions, and necessary exceptions. But hopefully they will remain exceptions."
Wolfowitz highlighted popular uprisings in the Philippines and South Korea in the 1980s and the Soviet Union and Latin America in the next decade.
He said the phenomenon had continued with landmark democratic elections in Indonesia last year and the Palestinian territories in January and the popular uprising that saw government changes in Ukraine and Georgia.
Wolfowitz, who overcame doubts from countries worried about his role in planning the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, said that economic support was necessary to help the new democracies.
"Economic development tends to support political change," he said. "It needs the support of all of us who live in successful societies."
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