Brave new world?

Posted on January 25th, 2009 Greg Trunz 1 comment  Print This Post

Earlier this month, Robert McMahon of the Council on Foreign Relations published a piece in the Foreign Service Journal titled “The Brave New World of Democracy Promotion.” Written from a macro-level perspective, it highlights current perceptions and controversies surrounding the world of democracy promotion, and raises the possibility that a new era is on the horizon under the Obama Administration. What could this mean? According to McMahon, experts on both sides of the aisle recommend that the U.S. should:

1. Draw a distinction between regime change and democracy promotion, making clear the United States does not use military force to remove governments in the name of democracy;
2. Establish more modest goals for bolstering democracy in a limited number of states;
3. Take steps to improve coordination on democracy promotion across the numerous U.S. agencies involved in related work;
4. Renew engagement in the Community of Democracies as a forum for strengthening democratic institutions and increasing involvement with existing multilateral bodies that deal with democracy, such as the United Nations;
5. Emphasize strengthening of governance and rule of law over the holding of elections in countries in transition; and
6. Take a more realistic approach to democracy promotion in the Middle East, while continuing to prod states in the region to open up their societies politically and economically.

Regardless of one’s feelings toward the utility or relevance of these recommendations, it will be interesting to keep an eye on whether or not they are implemented during the course of the new administration.

The full text of the article is available here.