Those of us who follow the goings on of democracy-promotion NGOs may be interested to see (if you haven’t already) a new paper co-written by Lorne Craner, (President, International Republican Institute) and Kenneth Wollack (President, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs).  Entitled “New Directions for Democracy Promotion,” the paper gives an overview of the activities of the two organizations (and others) and makes policy recommendations for the next president of the United States.  

Policy recommendations include:

  • Re-energizing U.S. alliances among democratically minded nations inside and outside of the United Nations, including within the UN’s regional groupings;
  • Committing diplomatic resources to fixing the UN’s new Human Rights Council and/or expanding U.S. financial and political commitments to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its field-based operations;
  • Enshrining democracy promotion as one of the key pillars of U.S. foreign policy in the National Security Doctrine;
  • Announcing continued or expanded funding for democracy support programs within various agencies of the U.S. government;
  • Announcing continued support for and funding of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Community of Democracies;
  • Announcing continued support for congressionally initiated funding for democracy support programs in Iraq; and
  • Ensuring that the value of democracy promotion efforts is understood by American diplomats through extensive programs by the Foreign Service Institute and other mechanisms.

Those who follow democracy-promotion closely won’t find anything earth shattering here, but at a tight 20 pages (complete with full-color photographs) it provides an authoritative primer for newcomers to the field, and a ready alternative to Thomas Carothers’ significantly longer Aiding Democracy Abroad.