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IV. The New Internationalist Imperative

Social democrats are proud of their tradition of democratic internationalism. The founders of social democracy were among the first to perceive the dangers of totalitarianism, and led the struggle against such perversions of socialism as fascism, Nazism and communism. After World War II they recognized that, with the defeat of fascism and Nazism, Soviet communism represented the greatest threat to world peace, national independence and democracy.

But social democrats also understood that containing communism meant not only keeping up our military strength, but also defending and promoting democracy, human rights and national independence. Social democrats were among the first to come to the assistance of Solidarity, and other dissident movements which undermined communism from below. They never forgot that "the human rights issue" was not some strategic ploy in the Cold War. Human rights, including the inalienable right to democratic self-government, were universal, and applied to those in countries allied with us as well those opposing us. Thus, social democrats also played vigorous roles in the struggles against apartheid in South Africa and against such dictators as Pinochet in Chile, Somoza in Nicaragua, and Marcos in the Philippines.

American social democrats recognize that today the United States is the only country that possesses the size, strength and democratic spirit to lead the worldwide struggle for democracy. The US should provide assistance and support to the new democrats of the former Soviet bloc and elsewhere, whose struggles will determine whether our own country can slash military spending and fully confront its economic challenges. At the same time, we must remain vigilant against new threats which can arise from Islamic fundamentalism, an economically strong Communist China, ethnic conflicts in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, or military dictatorships and oligarchies in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Not all our countrymen share the sense of vindication and optimism that we feel over the defeat of communism. The long effort of the Cold War has taken a toll on our nation's energies and resources, and has contributed to what were already corrosive domestic divisions. Not surprisingly, today the siren call of isolationism can again be heard, echoing as it often does from both the far Right and far Left. We must resist it because:

• Economic globalization means that our society will be affected by governments, businesses and financial institutions which are not now subject to democratic or humanitarian constraints.
• Economic growth throughout the world threatens to increase the world's pollutants and endanger many valuable ecosystems. Only through democratic accountability can we effectively regulate economic development to provide adequate environmental protection.
• Weapons of mass destruction are now within reach of many countries which provide no democratic restraints upon their use.
• Economic and political refugees are flooding our shores in numbers that strain our capacity to absorb them. Ethnic conflict and economic collapse elsewhere in the world threaten a fearful backlash and a reversal of democratic gains.
• Dictatorships survive in many parts of the Third World. Islamic fundamentalism has imperial pretensions. Guerrilla wars, terrorism and ethnic conflict threaten countries from Peru and Yugoslavia to Burma and Indonesia. And communism still holds sway over more than a billion and a quarter people in China, Indochina, North Korea and Cuba.

Strengthening and defending the remarkable gains democracy has achieved in the decade past is a crucial task for social democrats in the years ahead. Ours is a world-wide movement: through the Socialist International, we have relationships with political parties, trade unions, human rights groups and other institutions in many countries. The end of the Cold War has given new potential to international institutions designed to mediate disputes, to benefit public health and the environment, and to press respect for human rights. The challenge of the 21st Century is one of creating an international politics of democracy and decency that can match the remarkable shift now underway to a global economy.

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