1. Yes. Sure. Definitely. 2. Yes; as it's been done. (Japan isn't the only example, but it's the obvious one.) That does not necessarily mean that it ever can be done again; the sufficient prerequisites for the imposition of Democracy were demonstrably, in retrospect, there, but it's not self-evident what all of them where, or whether substitutes will work in other situations. (Example: is it necessary for as many as two cities to have been destroyed by nuclear weapons prior to the imposition of democracy, or will only one do? None, but a threat? Zero, without a threat? What effect did the possibility of nuclear destruction have on the erstwhile "Werewolves" in just-barely-ex Nazi Germany? Was the nearby presence of the aggressively expansionist Soviet Union helpful, or necessary? Would some other form of government been able to buy US support/ongoing occupation in that context? Would some other form of government been thought to be able to buy US support/ongoing occupation in that context?)
One might as well ask if democracy can ever be imposed from within, and look at the French (among others) for an example that would argue that it can't be, other counterexamples to the contrary.
3. Sure, for some reasonable values of "foster." The US did that for decades through, among other things, Radio Free Europe, frex.
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branchandroot
Answers
Date: 2007-01-15 04:57 pm (UTC)2. Yes; as it's been done. (Japan isn't the only example, but it's the obvious one.) That does not necessarily mean that it ever can be done again; the sufficient prerequisites for the imposition of Democracy were demonstrably, in retrospect, there, but it's not self-evident what all of them where, or whether substitutes will work in other situations. (Example: is it necessary for as many as two cities to have been destroyed by nuclear weapons prior to the imposition of democracy, or will only one do? None, but a threat? Zero, without a threat? What effect did the possibility of nuclear destruction have on the erstwhile "Werewolves" in just-barely-ex Nazi Germany? Was the nearby presence of the aggressively expansionist Soviet Union helpful, or necessary? Would some other form of government been able to buy US support/ongoing occupation in that context? Would some other form of government been thought to be able to buy US support/ongoing occupation in that context?)
One might as well ask if democracy can ever be imposed from within, and look at the French (among others) for an example that would argue that it can't be, other counterexamples to the contrary.
3. Sure, for some reasonable values of "foster." The US did that for decades through, among other things, Radio Free Europe, frex.