As administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Andrew Natsios works to dispel the myth in foreign countries that "democracy means you get to shoot your leaders if you don't like them."

At his luncheon address in front of 200 people Tuesday in the Alumni Memorial Union, Natsios focused on USAID's efforts to develop democracy in countries that are weak or have no functioning central government, saying they are more susceptible to terrorism and thus threaten the United States' safety.

"What's the connection between state failure and democracy? State failure is caused almost always by a failure of governance," Natsios said.

Because these states lack a solid government body, he said they "are invitations to these darker forces to locate their headquarters in those countries."

For example, Natsios said, Al Qaeda's first headquarters 15 years ago was in Somalia, where there was no government. When the terrorist group was removed, it relocated to Sudan and then to Afghanistan — both what he called "failed states."

USAID, which provides worldwide economic and humanitarian assistance, has thus reconfigured its democracy and governance office within the office that deals with fragile states, Natsios said.

A country that has a weak or nonexistent central government is not necessarily destined to become a terrorist state, though.

"The notion that countries can't recover is simply not true," Natsios said, "but they need outside help and local leadership."

Some countries choose to not adopt democracy, which is fine by Natsios and USAID.

"We don't force this on anyone," he said. "It's up to (the people)."

Natsios addressed several questions after his lecture, including one about outreach to countries that may not be receptive to the United States.

"Can we work everywhere under all circumstances? No, we can't," he said. "There has to be some opening for civil society."

In countries with a totalitarian regime or in a police state, for example, "they don't want us there — we're dangerous."

When asked about responding to areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Natsios said he would "get into serious trouble with our Congress and our lawyers if I started to bring resources from our aid budget, which has to be spent abroad, (to be) spent locally."

"We worked (in the Gulf Coast) for a couple of weeks, but our principal role is foreign," he said.

Ben Jelinek, who studies at Journey House, an agency that helps adults earn GEDs, said he thought the lecture was "pretty interesting" but wondered why a similar organization didn't exist for United States domestic assistance.

"Why can't we get our own USAID for our own cities here?" Jelinek said.

Conor Sweeney, a College of Arts & Sciences junior, said Natsios' appearance was a "great asset to a lot of students" because it exposed them to "someone who is making things happen around the world."

Rana Altenburg, vice president in the office of public affairs, said the university has been working since the spring semester to bring Natsios to campus.

"We were very fortunate to have him come," Altenburg said.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 27, 2005.