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It is very healthy for dictatorial regimes today to know that U.S. support is not automatic and cannot be taken for granted. Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., made a famous and sound distinction between totalitarian (generally Communist) regimes, which are almost impossible to overthrow or alter, and merely authoritarian regimes, which are subject to change. That really supports the argument that the U.S. should do its best to bring about change in such regimes, which are usually in the American camp, but it must be done carefully and discriminately. Washington, for instance, should press hard for reform of a needlessly repressive government in Chile, a country with strong democratic traditions. The U.S. must proceed more cautiously in South Korea. There a more open government is also needed, including freer political activity and direct presidential elections, but the menacing proximity of the fanatically Stalinist regime in North Korea makes liberalization a much more difficult and dangerous proposition. In Pakistan, too, President Zia ul-Haq should be prodded to continue his gingerly return to democracy, although the move is precarious given the country's strong political passions and the Soviet occupation of neighboring Afghanistan.
Indonesia, which created a stir last week during President Reagan's visit by foolishly cracking down on foreign journalists who had criticized the regime, certainly should improve its record on human rights and corruption. But given the serious threat of Islamic fundamentalism, the Suharto government most of the time has been relatively restrained and successful, especially in raising the country's living standards.
America cannot ostracize or destabilize all "right-wing" dictatorships no matter what. In a recent, much remarked statement to Congress, Ronald Reagan said that the U.S. opposes "tyranny in whatever form, whether of the left or of the right." But democratic change, he went on, must be encouraged in "careful ways that respect other countries' traditions and political realities." Ignoring those realities trivializes democracy and represents an intellectual insult to people around the world who seriously strive for it.