Browse: Home /
obama administration
obama administration
You are browsing the obama administration tag archive.
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 October 28, 2009
The Obama administration had downplayed, but not downgraded democracy as a foreign policy objective, Anne-Marie Slaughter, the State Department’s head of policy planning, told Democracy Digest this week.
“Give us time,” was her response to critics who cite changes to Egyptian NGO funding and cuts to Iranian human rights groups to charge the administration with backtracking [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Egypt, Hat tip: Center for International Media Assistance., Iran, democracy promotion, democracy support, foreign policy, promoting democracy | Tagged Democratiya, obama administration |
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 |
By Michael Allen on July 8, 2009
Another must-read – and timely too, as the Obama administration finally nominates Michael H. Posner for Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, in the Department of State.
Check out the new Freedom House special report on the administration’s funding of democracy and human rights.
Making its Mark: An Analysis of the Obama [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, democracy promotion | Tagged Democracy assistance, democracy promotion, obama, obama administration |
By Michael Allen on June 29, 2009
Just as Rwanda paid the price for Somalia, the Obama administration appears to have “overlearned” the lessons of the Iraq war and George W. Bush’s freedom agenda, warns Nader Mousavizadeh a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Consequently, “an opportunity to provide legitimate support to the popular movement when it mattered most was [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Elections, Iran, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, dissidents, promoting democracy, protests | Tagged 1989, Amir Taheri, Basij, bazaari, civil society, democracy promotion, democratic revolutions, Fareed Zakaria, Mohsen Sazegara, Nader Mousavizadeh, obama administration, pluralism, promoting democracy, Revolutionary Guards, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on June 22, 2009
As with his recent Cairo speech, President Barack Obama should use his forthcoming visit to Moscow to send a message that re-setting relations does not entail abandoning democratic values, writes Lilia Shevtsova.
The trip could provide important hints about whether his administration’s approach to foreign policy will reflect 20th century realpolitik or blends pragmatism and values [read full story]
Posted in Eastern Europe, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Russia, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Carnegie Moscow Center, democratic values, Francis Fukuyama, GONGOs, Lilia Shevtsova, National Endowment for Democracy, obama administration, Obama in Moscow, President Barack Obama, rule of law, Russian civil society |
By Michael Allen on June 5, 2009
Obama’s Cairo speech continues to attract comment, not least on the subject of promoting human rights and democracy in the Middle East.
On democracy promotion, the speech reflects a “big retreat to realism”, writes David Brooks, dashing hopes that Obama would push “a gradual, bottom-up democracy-building initiative” in the region:
This effort would begin with projects to [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Human rights, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, Women, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged democracy promotion, economic development, Egypt, mukhabarat, Muslim World, obama administration, promoting democracy, promoting human rights and democracy, syria, Women's rights |
By Michael Allen on June 5, 2009
Contrary to suggestions that it signals the end of the Cold War in the hemisphere, the decision by the Organization of American States (OAS) to end Cuba’s exclusion may not be such a big deal, some observers suggest.
“The OAS decision is unlikely to hasten democratic change in Cuba; the Cuban government, after all, has [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Cuba, Human rights, Latin America and the Carribean, authoritarianism, promoting democracy | Tagged Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, cuba, Hugo Chávez, new authoritarianism, obama administration, Organization of American |
By Michael Allen on June 3, 2009
The Obama administration has drawn criticism for an apparent downgrading of democracy promotion in its foreign policy. Some observers have argued that the shift has been prompted by an excessive reaction to the perceived failure and rhetorical excesses of the Bush administration’s Freedom Agenda.
Yet others have insisted that democracy promotion is not the preserve of [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged democracy promotion, Freedom Agenda, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Middle East Partnership Initiative, Millennium Challenge Corporation, National Endowment for Democracy, obama administration, Project on Middle East Democracy, promoting democracy, United Nations Democracy Fund |
By Michael Allen on June 2, 2009
The audience for President Obama’s Cairo speech will include participants or invitees from across the range of Egypt’s political actors, the White House has confirmed. The administration has not yet confirmed whether the president will meet separately with dissidents or opposition political but has suggested that “there will be additional opportunity to engage key actors [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, Egypt, Human rights, Islam/politics, Middle East and North Africa, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, democracy promotion, dissidents, promoting democracy | Tagged arab reform, Democracy and Human Rights in Egypt, democracy promotion, democratization, Egypt, Freedom House, Middle East Partnership Initiative, muslim brotherhood, National Democratic Institute, obama administration, Obama Cairo speech, Project on Middle East Democracy, promoting democracy |
Recent Comments