Leaders see Asia safer
with democracy

A Pacific security forum ends
on a note of positive change

A conference of about 220 scholars, military leaders and diplomats from more than 40 Asia-Pacific countries concluded yesterday with a broad consensus that the spread of democracy has had a positive impact on regional security.

The symposium, sponsored in part by the U.S. Pacific Command, examined the changes brought by a flowering of democracy in many Asia-Pacific nations during the past 15 years.

While there were only about three or four long-standing democracies in the late 1980s, that form of government is now the "dominant system" in the region, said Stephen Flanagan, a professor at National Defense University.

"Democratic politics have generally been a positive thing for development of security cooperation and the adaptation of alliances in the Pacific region," Flanagan said.

"Many of these countries are a bit more open and willing to engage in cooperation with the United States on the basis of some shared values and a sense that there are many common interests."

Flanagan spoke to the Associated Press after giving a speech that wrapped up three days of panel discussions at the conference.

Indonesia, Thailand and Mongolia are among the countries to shake off authoritarian, military or one-party rule to embrace democratic elections in the past 15 years.

Other countries, like India, have opened up by liberalizing their economies.

Panelists cited the cross-border response to the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster as an example of the new level of comfort many countries in the region have toward cooperating with one another.

Military forces and nongovernmental organizations from around the world rushed to help Indonesia's Aceh province, the area worst hit by the tsunami.

Within the region, India dispatched aid to Sri Lanka and the Maldives even as it attended to its own citizens who were devastated by the killer waves.

Thailand, meanwhile, opened its Utapao military base for use as a transport hub for foreign aid teams and supplies.

Flanagan said he did not hear any opposition at the conference to the idea of promoting democracy, while more countries would have likely resisted such moves 10 or 15 years ago as an interference in their internal affairs, he said.

The National Defense University in Washington, D.C., sponsored the conference along with Honolulu's Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.