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News and Views

Commentary from experts on the directions and challenges of democracy assistance programs.


June 12, 2009	Lebanon's Triumph, Iran's Travesty The New York Times Elliott Abrams, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes about the stark contrast between the elections in Lebanon and Iran that fall less than a week apart and are viewed in some quarters as twin tests of democracy. Read More
June 1, 2009	Education and Democratic Preferences Inter-American Development Bank Alberto Chong of the Intra-American Development Bank and Mark Gradstein of Ben Gurion University examine the link between education and democracy. The paper uses the World Values Survey data and finds that higher education levels tend to result in pro-democracy views. Read More
April 16, 2009	The Obama Doctrine The Washington Post Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne describes the emergent outline of American foreign policy under the Obama administration. Read More
March 30, 2009	Mapping a New Strategy The Washington Post Russian human rights advocate Ludmila Alexeeva and editor Gregory Shvedov write in the Washington Post to propose new approaches to democracy assistance in former Soviet states. Read More
March 26, 2009	Democracy Promotion in Obama's Reign Politico In the Politico, former House members Richard Gephardt and Vin Weber make the case for democratic development as the best guarantor of long-term economic growth. Read More
March 10, 2009	Democracy in U.S. Security Strategy: From Promotion to Support Center for Strategic and International Studies Alexander Lennon, editor of the Washington Quarterly, raises questions about the role democracy should have in U.S. security strategy and public diplomacy today. Read More
March 1, 2009	Assisting Georgia: Promoting International Standards Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Georgia reports on election assistance efforts in the country during the 2008 presidential and parliamentary vote. Read More
February 1, 2009	Toward a Brighter World: A Transatlantic Call for Renewed Leadership and Partnerships in Global Development The German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund's Transatlantic Task Force on Development examines the relationship between democracy, development and security, and takes up the question of whether meaningful development can take place in the asence of democracy or security. Read More
February 1, 2009	Saving Democracy Promotion from Short-Term U.S. Policy Interests in Central Asia The Century Foundation Sean Roberts, a professor of international development at George Washington University and one-time aid administrator in Central Asia, assesses the obstacles to democratic development in the Central Asia region, arguing that the region presents obstacles beyond simply the determination of incumbent regimes to retain power. Read More
February 1, 2009	Democracy Promotion Under Obama: Finding a Way Forward Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explores how American approaches to democracy support could change under the new administration. Read More