Interview: U.S. by no means democratic given its hegemonic foreign policy, says expert

by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Despite its attempt to masquerade as a "beacon of democracy" by convening the second so-called "Summit for Democracy," the United States is by no means democratic given its hegemony-based foreign policy, an expert has said.

"The United States wants to portray itself as a beacon of democracy ... but the gap is wide when it comes to implementing democracy in its relation" with other countries, said Mokhtar Ghobashy, deputy chairman of the Cairo-based Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, in an interview with Xinhua.

The United States is prone to exercising "a form of dominance and blackmail against many countries" to serve its selfish interests, Ghobashy said, citing Washington's responsibility for disorder and conflict in some parts of the world, including the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

Noting the narrative of democracy is used by the United States to pressure countries in other part of the world, the political science researcher said that the United States uses "the pretexts of democracy, human rights and the rights of minorities as means to serve its political interests."

The United States called itself a democracy, while it exercises "the severest type of authoritarianism and totalitarianism" with many countries, the expert said.

"When the United States deals with the foreign world, it doesn't adopt democracy, nor does it observe the rules of international legitimacy or international law," he added.