The History of The Democracy

ACT 5: THE DEMOCRACY - DESTINATION: USA

A boomerang.

The world stage. Amman, New York, Pentagon City and Washington DC from 22 October - 3 November 2004.

In the spring of 2004 the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted 1.9 million kroners to establish an arts and democracy house in Bagdad.
But few weeks prior to Das Beckværk leaving for Bagdad, pictures and recordings from the Abu Ghraib prison were published showing how Americans treat prisoners. Iraqi rebels responded soon after with videos showing European and American hostages pleading for help before they were decapitated. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore decided to withhold the grant indefinitely due to "security reasons".
Because the pictures and videos from Abu Ghraib revealed certain deficiencies in the American democracy, Das Beckværk decided to reverse history:

In October 2004 Nielsen & Rasmussen went back to Iraq, collected the Democracy and brought it with them into Jordan. In the capital Amman the two Europeans held several parliamentary sessions with artist and intellectuals from different Middle Eastern countries. In collaboration with them Das Beckværk wrote a charter, including a plan for the re-democratization of USA.

Following Nielsen & Rasmussen flew to the US as representatives for the European and Middle Eastern people. In an attempt to influence the American vision with ideas from the outside, Nielsen & Rasmussen held parliamentary sessions at universities, think-tanks, theatres and galleries, during the last weeks of the presidential election campaign. Their mission ended the day after the election in an attempt to install the Democracy in the White House.


Related Beckworks:

The Sovereign - a novel, Gyldendal (DK) 2008

The Democracy - Destination: USA - a "microfilm", Chain Link (USA) 2008

The History of The Democracy - a retrospective exhibition, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center Copenhagen 2007 + Wiener Festwochen, Austria, 2007.

The History of The Democracy - a staged lecture, Das Beckwerk/Wiener Festwochen, 2007- (order now! on info@dasbeckwerk.com)

Charter
October, 2004

American foreign and security policy is adrift. Even conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Bush Administration. They have resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks, but conservatives have not confidently enacted their vision of America's role in the world. They have set forth guiding principles for American foreign policy, but they have also allowed torture and other uncivilized, barbarous acts to obscure potential agreement on democratic objectives. And they have failed to utilize the defence budget of the US in order to increase world security and advance democratic interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and improve the basis for American global leadership.

As the 20th century drew to a close, the United States stood as the world's pre-eminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faced an opportunity and a challenge: Did the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Did the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to universal principles of democracy and freedom?

The United States are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. They are living off the moral capital - accumulated through human sacrifice and remarkable democratic progress - achieved by democracies of yore. Through its disregard of international law and universal human rights, through its snubbing of voices of opposition, and its wavering, contingent leadership, the American Administration is making it increasingly difficult to support American influence around the world. The promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override democratic considerations. As a consequence, the United States are jeopardizing the worlds ability to handle present problems and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.

The United States seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the American constitution: a democracy that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes universal principles of democracy and freedom; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.

Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But they cannot avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If they shirk their responsibilities, they invite challenges to our fundamental principles. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to act in accordance with universal principles when crises emerge, and to meet problems before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught the United States to enact American leadership in accordance with universal principles of democracy and freedom.


Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are three consequences:

¤ The United States need to increase democratic, nation building and humanitarian aid spending significantly if they are to carry out their global responsibilities today and modernize the world’s democratic forces for the future;

¤ The United States need to strengthen their ties to democratic allies and to challenge inner American forces hostile to democratic and universally human values and interests;

¤ The United States need to promote the cause of democratic and basic human ethics and political and economic freedom in The United States and abroad;

Such a universal policy of democratic strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to rebuild American trustworthiness and to ensure world security and world democracy in the new millennium.
We accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to world security, world prosperity, and universal principles of democracy.

Nielsen & Rasmussen, Chairmen


The Project for a New Democratic Millennium is a non-profit educational organisation dedicated to a few fundamental propositions: that American leadership should be good both for America and for the world; that such leadership requires philosophical strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle; and that too few political leaders today are making case for global responsibility.

The Project for a New Democratic Millennium intends, through issue briefs, research papers, advocacy journalism, conferences, seminars and democratic events, to explain what American world leadership entails. It will also strive to rally support for a vigorous and principled policy of international involvement and to stimulate useful public debate on the democracy and America's role in the world.