Liberal sociologist Todd Gitlin makes an interesting reflection in the current issue of World Affairs, reviewing the topic of Wilsonianism and U.S. foreign policy in the 21st Century:
When are indigenous democrats strengthened with foreign help, and when are they tainted? Much more needs to be said. In a more extended treatment it would be good to hear which kind of outside support democracy activists think helps them, and which harms them, and which is infuriatingly indeterminate. There are lessons to be drawn from Eastern and Central Europe before 1989, from the so-called color revolutions, and from many other places. It would be useful to inventory them and see if general conclusions are possible.
This is one of the questions to be addressed by a review of democracy assistance currently being designed by the World Movement for Democracy in association with the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE), the Madrid-based think-tank. Watch this space for further details and developments.
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