In his recent State of the Union address, President Bush outlined his ideas and priorities when dealing with our nation's foreign policy.
Bush's speech described an \axis of evil"" which included terrorist-sponsoring nations, North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Though controversial, the president was correct in labeling the practices of the governments of these nations for what they are. Totalitarianism, in all its forms, must become a relic of history. As the world is advancing into a new era of increased global cooperation, we cannot leave this ""axis of evil"" behind. The populace of these nations is perhaps now, more than ever, ready to embrace change.
Iran's pent-up reformism is threatening to explode onto the political stage, and already has in some cases. Though the President of Iran himself, Mohammed Khotami, is a reformer in the eyes of the West, the supreme ruler remains the Ayatollah Khomeni, who opposes attempts at reform (or any modernization for that matter). He would rather extol his followers to endlessly chant ""Death to America"" and burn effigies of the president, rather than foster a true debate based on the issues that Iran faces. As members of the Iranian Congress, reform-minded journalists and college youth much like ourselves yearn for democracy in Iran, hard-headed totalitarianism still rules the government, and thus the laws.
In Iraq, there is no question about the dictatorial merits of Saddam Hussein. Since the dawn of the Hussein dictatorship, Iraq's military has been the agent of terror and violence throughout the Middle East.
Hussein's tenure has been marked by an eight-year war with Iran, an invasion of Kuwait, a slaughtering of his own nation's Kurdish population in the northern part of the nation, eco-terrorism practiced on an incomprehensible level in burning oil refineries on the Persian Gulf and the expulsion of U.N. arms inspectors from supervising weapons development in his country. Could anyone find it far-fetched to believe that if Hussein had the means, he would embark on even more widespread plans of military conquest, ala Hitler?
North Korea does not have as transparent a recent history with the United States as the other nations of the ""axis of evil."" Our generation does not remember first-hand the Korean War, fought between 1950 and 1953, in which over 50,000 Americans, mostly men and women our age, were killed.
Unfortunately, though the war itself is aptly known as the ""Forgotten War,"" it does not mean we have not felt its impact. Tensions between the two Koreas remain high and the U.S. Army still patrols the 38th Parallel, making it the longest armed border in the world. Today, North Korea is a nuclear power, developing missiles which may have the capability to strike the United States. As history has shown, a totalitarian regime struggling with intense economic problems should not be counted on to make rational decisions.
We must encourage the two Koreas to go back to the negotiating table concerning unification. If democracy is able to foster political reunification, certainly a people bound together in language, history, ethnicity and family can bring about actual reunification. Recent events on the Peninsula, such as several planned border crossings among families divided by the war 50 years ago and a desire among the people themselves to encourage its attempts, point towards the eventual success of one democratic Korea.
The United States, as the world's lone super-power, has the moral responsibility to encourage true democracy and political reform. The ""axis of evil"" does not have to morph itself into attempting to be exactly like the United States, but at the very least, we can stop hiding behind political correctness and point out totalitarian government for what it truly represents.
Despite the negative reality, optimism still remains. It seems as though most human beings, whatever their nationality, yearn for freedom. America can foster that feeling by offering to moderate talks, acting militarily in certain situations and, like most American presidents since Woodrow Wilson, speaking directly to the people and appealing to the common humanity felt by citizens of all nations, wherever they may reside.
