Thailand politicians are blaming the United States and other “western” countries for inciting a pro-democracy movement and protests from Thailands younger generation. The Thai PBS is quoted for saying the United States is the main “foreign hand” backing the pro-democracy movement. The US ambassador has spoken against this accusation, saying “the United States is not funding or otherwise providing support to any of the protests in Thailand.” However, Yu Qun, deputy director of the Military Diplomacy Research Center in China, says “(United States) forces aim to bring in pro-West political proxies to rule the country with Western-styled democracy. It is essentially a “color revolution.” He also states that this tactic has been used by the United States before in the former Soviet Union and the middle east.
I believe that this article exposes the Thailand and Chinese governments views on the ongoing democracy movement in a negative way. It is obvious that they believe the United States is overpowering in their democratic influence and should be blamed for the current “Hybrid” war in Thailand. The article is important because it openly displays the two sides of the argument and therefore allows readers to craft their opinions and choose sides. My question is why is the movement specifically in the young generation? Does social media and internet play an impacting role in the alleged connection between countries? Impacts for Thailand and the United States could be negative. This article shows the relationship negatively, and could provoke further negative impacts between the two, while pushing China and Thailand closer together in their similar oppositions to the United States.
Thailand is accusing the United States of using the “Dominance” tactic of international cooperation, which we talked about in class as establishing a hierarchy and forceful means of getting what you want. In this case, the United States is denying such tactics, and there are no proof or signs that the United States has forcefully persuaded the Thailand youth to overthrow their government. However, the Thailand government believes that the United States government is “using” the Thailand youth as a mean to overthrow their government and forcefully impose democracy in its place. If this were to be true, the disadvantages of this dominance tactic could lead to oppression and resentment by the non-democracy party that could lead to further conflict and war.