1
Assistant Professor, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran
2
Researcher of International Security Studies
Abstract
Several years before the decline of the Soviet Union and collapse of communist model in the world, there was an incentive in the United States to introduce its capitalist democracy in line with democratization as a superior model in the world. As a result, some successful foundations were strengthened in their confrontation with the Soviet Union and after the cold war such institutions as The National Endowment for Democracy targeted other regions of the world, including the Middle East. The question that is raised in this regard is whether the process of democratization and attempts of the said foundations as an executive arm of this process are really directed towards promotion of real democracy in other countries or such endeavors are indeed the very measures of the Western intelligence services in a popular guise in order to wage soft war. The theory of cultural imperialism of the United States (as a deceptive aspect of soft war general strategy) under the title of public diplomacy has been used to analyze the problem. The present paper’s argument is that democratization is a suitable veneer for covering up the policies which are full of deception and concealment to impose imperialism and such foundations as the National Endowment for Democracy in fact implement the clandestine policies of the CIA under a charming appearance.
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