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By Michael Allen on February 11, 2010
The rationale for promoting democracy in the Middle East as a component of a broader anti-jihadist strategy remains both relevant and urgent, argue Shadi Hamid and Steven Brooke.
Some commentators deny the relationship between radical Islamist terrorism and regional authoritarianism. But, they contend, “no compelling evidence debunks the tyranny-terror link and, instead, the evidence seems to [read full story]
Posted in Middle East and North Africa, democracy promotion | Tagged Democracy in the Middle East, democracy promotion, Middle East and North Africa |
By Michael Allen on February 3, 2010
Iran’s Green movement must broaden its demands to expand support amongst the country’s poor and working families, says opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The movement has been accused of being unrepresentative, and arguably too focused on constitutional issues that hold little appeal beyond university students and the middle class.
“The fate of the movement should be tied [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Elections, Human rights, Iran, Islam/politics, authoritarianism, democracy support, dissidents, foreign policy, promoting democracy, protests, solidarity | Tagged democracy promotion, Green movement, green revolution, labor unions, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohsen Sazegara, obama administration, Obama and Iran, promoting democracy, trade unions |
By Michael Allen on January 28, 2010
Arab democracy advocates are growing impatient with the Obama administration’s perceived lack of commitment to promoting political reform in the Middle East.
The tentative reforms and opening of political space that accompanied the Bush administration’s Freedom Agenda proved short-lived after electoral gains made by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood prompted a marked dampening of enthusiasm for [read full story]
Posted in Egypt, Islam and democracy, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, democracy promotion, dissidents, promoting democracy | Tagged Arab democracy, democracy promotion, promoting democracy, promoting democracy in the Middle East |
By Michael Allen on September 4, 2009
China aspires to democratize international relations – its term for promoting multilateralism at the expense of U.S. influence. But, as a new RAND study notes, the ruling Communist Party remains hostile to expectations that democratization will come to China, while its foreign policy and diplomatic strategy explicitly aim to counter and frustrate U.S. efforts to [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, China, Democracy assistance, Human rights, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged and Diversification, China's International Behavior: Activism, democracy promotion, democratization, Opportunism, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on September 1, 2009
The Obama administration has come under fire from democracy advocates for downplaying democracy as a foreign policy priority. Others suggest that it remains committed to promoting democracy as an objective, while recalibrating its approach.
But the administration will ultimately be judged on its accomplishments rather than its rhetoric, write Richard Burt and Dimitri K. Simes. [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Human rights, Soft power, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy, smart power | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, democratization, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on August 27, 2009
Paul Wolfowitz also invokes the admonition to “do no harm” when it comes to democracy promotion. But he denies that a pragmatic, evolutionary approach amounts to realism, even in the Middle East, where compelling strategic interests compete with promoting democracy as a policy imperative:
The goal should not be revolution, but rather evolutionary change. That’s the [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Lebanon, Middle East and North Africa, Morocco, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged democracy promotion, Paul Wolfowitz, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on August 26, 2009
It is “unfeasible” to expect the Obama administration to reject democracy promotion as a policy priority in the Middle East, writes Gregory Gause. While he favors downgrading democracy, such a course is unlikely “given the strong ideological commitment” to democracy in U.S. foreign policy, and “even more so given the bureaucratic players now entrenched in [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Middle East and North Africa, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged democracy promotion, downgrading democracy, Freedom House, Global Engagement Directorate, human rights defenders, Middle East Partnership Initiative |
By Michael Allen on August 26, 2009
The Obama administration was “right to avoid emotionally satisfying but pointless… rhetorical interventions” in the Iranian events of June 2009, argues Middle East analyst Gregory Gause. “It should be equally poised in rejecting calls …. to make democracy promotion a major pillar of American policy” in the region, he contends.
Gause is dismissive of pundits and [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Egypt, Iran, Islam/politics, Lebanon, Middle East and North Africa, Morocco, NGOs/Civil society, Tools/technology, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy, protests | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Islamists, political Islam, promoting democracy, radical Islam, regional authoritarians, virtual mosque |
By Michael Allen on August 24, 2009
Last Thursday’s presidential election in Afghanistan was marred by serious irregularities, but most analysts consider it credible while the country’s voters are drawing plaudits for defying Taliban threats of violence to cast their ballots.
Election observers and democracy assistance groups detailed a list of abuses, including ballot-box stuffing and phantom voter lists, especially in southern and [read full story]
Posted in Afghanistan, Democracy assistance, Elections, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, Free and Fair Election Foundation, Hamid Karzai, International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute |
By Michael Allen on August 4, 2009
Has the Obama administration let the pendulum swing too far in reacting to the legacy of George W. Bush? Jacob Weisberg argues that Bush’s idealism and unilateralism prompted Obama’s realism and multilateralism. More specifically, he contends, “Bush’s boycott of North Korea, Cuba, and Iran fed Obama’s eagerness to engage pragmatically with those tyrannies”.
The danger with [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Global, democracy promotion, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged accommodating dictators, democracy promotion, humanitarian intervention, multilateralism, obama administration, Realism |
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