Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Democracy & Rule of Law Program

Revitalizing Democracy Assistance: The Challenge of USAID

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0400

USAID—the largest source of U.S. democracy assistance—requires deep-reaching reforms if the Obama administration hopes to adequately address challenges to democracy around the world.

What Does a Nobel Do for U.S. Leaders?

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0400

The awarding of the Nobel peace prize to President Obama reflects just how strongly many Europeans felt that a rift opened up between the United States and the rest of the world during the Bush years. In their view, Obama’s global reengagement itself merits reward.

Islam and the Paths of Pakistan’s Political Development

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Islam alone will not aid Pakistan’s political development; instead, national stability will improve with better administrative, security, economic, and social services.

Trying an Old Law

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Group of 7 or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development should conduct a comprehensive review of corporate responsibility and liability to address the troubling gap between global markets and national regulation.

Will the International Economic Crisis Undermine Struggling Democracies?

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Despite concerns that the global economic crisis will lead to political instability around the world, research shows that governments are more often resilient in the face of economic hardship.

Democracy Assistance Without a Plan

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Democratization is a process of accumulating experience and building institutions that gradually start to take hold. Past experiences in various countries show what has been learned and the future prospects for democratization.

Rule of Law Temptations

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

World leaders should avoid overestimating the degree of consensus about what building the rule of law means in practice, reducing the concept down to a procedural minimum, and embracing the idea that the rule of law should precede democracy.

Stepping Back From Democratic Pessimism

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Good news on democratization, though often less visible, has occurred in roughly equal proportion to bad news. By taking on this more balanced perspective, the Obama administration can ensure that unnecessary pessimism does not hinder important U.S. support for democracy around the world.

Democracy Promotion Under Obama: Finding a Way Forward

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

If the Obama administration can put its principles of persistence, bipartisanship, and empowerment to work in the domain of democracy support, the United States will regain its place as a respected, trusted, and influential ally of democracy around the world.

Government By Corruption

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The most common cause of corruption is a combination of discretionary power and low accountability, both of which are imperative for the political survival of authoritarian regimes.

Democracy Assistance: Political vs. Developmental

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The increasingly complicated global political landscape makes only increases the need for diverse approaches democracy assistance. The division between political and developmental approaches should be understood as part of a larger process of strategic diversification that has been slow to develop in the field of democracy aid.

Democratic Doubt

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Africa is now paralyzed by the rise of failed democracies—countries that hold elections but do not develop institutions to support civil society—sparking conflict rather than easing it. The result across broad swaths of the continent has been the concentration of power with the people who make the continent's conflicts worse.

Personality Cults

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

For the first time in nearly twenty years, Burma has burst into open protest against the military junta, captivating the world with its ‘saffron revolution.’

The New Totalitarians - Burma and the Rebirth of a Terrible Idea

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Burma's brutal ruling junta, which has long kept power through force and fear, is taking the next step and transforming itself into one of the world's few totalitarian regimes.

Egypt's Unrest in Perspective

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

President Bush concludes his Middle East trip with a visit to Egypt, who is an important anchor for the moderate coalition resisting the growing influence of Iran in the region. Despite its strong relationship with the U.S., Egypt has experienced unprecedented civil unrest in recent months as democratization efforts have effectively hit rock bottom in the nation.

The Survivalists

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Burma defies political understanding. How can a regime run by an uneducated general survive for over four decades, while providing little economic growth? Brute force does not explain the survival of the Burmese dictatorship. It is much more adept at something else: doing the bare minimum to continue business as usual, both abroad and at home.

An Unwanted League

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Washington insiders are calling for the establishment of a League of Democracies to tackle the world's problems. But the last thing people in other countries are looking for from the next administration is a high-profile initiative tying democracy promotion to the global U.S. security agenda.

U.S. Presidential Selection Process Transparent but Dominated by Money

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The 2008 presidential primaries are being avidly followed, both at home and abroad. With all the rules for picking a party nominee, including the much-discussed Democratic superdelegates, some U.S. voters have begun questioning the extent to which the process is democratic.

Democracy on the wane

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Young democracy, with weak institutions, often brings to power, at first, elected leaders who actually don't care that much about upholding democracy. As these demagogues tear down the very reforms the middle classes built, those same middle classes turn against the leaders, and then against the system itself, bringing democracy to collapse.

Monsters' Ball

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

2007 witnessed a "notable setback for global freedom." Some of this is the fault of the Bush administration, whose policies have given democratization a bad name. At the same time, new democracies have not figured out how to secure their new political systems beyond their first elections. Some democratization advocates wonder whether democracy has reached its global limits.

Going Backwards in Bangkok

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

After nearly two decades, the Sunday Perspective section of the Bangkok Post, Thailand's leading English newspaper, closed down. In a society where the elites long went unquestioned, Perspective allowed Thais to question the powerful. A city that returns to entrenched ways of the past is a city that no longer needs Perspective, since it is a city that no longer cares for reform.

Democracy and Discontent

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The next U.S. administration will have to go beyond simply righting the wrongs of President Bush’s democracy promotion policies and reformulate the United States’ understanding of the relationship between its own democracy and the struggling democratic systems it seeks to help abroad.

The September 12 Paradigm

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Although it may seem that democracies no longer need to cooperate as urgently as they did during the Cold War, there is much to be gained from democratic alliances that will help promote liberal values on a global scale. While the next administration must learn from Bush's mistakes, it should not shy away from using U.S. power to promote these American values.

A League of Democracies

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Carnegie's Thomas Carothers gives an in-depth interview on the proposed "League of Democracies" with Dallas’ NPR-affiliate, KERA. Carothers discusses the problems a league or concert of democracies would face in defining and selecting democratic member states—further undermining the credibility of U.S. democracy promotion efforts around the world.

A League of Their Own

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Foreign-policy heavyweights on both the left and the right are calling for a new League of Democracies. One day, they say, it could replace the United Nations. But such a plan rests on the false assumption that democracies inherently work well together—or that anyone besides the United States thinks it’s a good idea.