Bahrain: Reaching a Threshold
By Edward Burke (03/07/2008)
This working paper argues that Bahrain has reached an impasse in its reform process and that King Hamad faces a complex set of decisions as he aims to balance the interests of the royal family while also addressing calls for change.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Publishing groups: Freedom of association in the Middle East and North Africa
Eastern dimension and the Balkans
Playing into the hands of Lukashenka
By Balázs Jarábik (30/06/2008)
In this Policy Brief, written for European Voice, FRIDE Associate Fellow Balázs Jarábik argues that the EU needs a more realistic understanding of Belarus, and policies to match.
Energy and Development: Lessons from Nigeria
By Anna Khakee (23/06/2008)
Nigeria, and in particular the Niger Delta, have all the components of failed development: deep poverty, corruption and neglect, disenfranchised ethnic minorities, self-serving multinational oil companies, environmental degradation, destruction of livelihoods, gang violence, civil strife, and despair.
Eastern dimension and the Balkans
The new enhanced agreement between the European Union and Ukraine: Will it further democratic consolidation?
By Natalia Shapovalova (23/06/2008)
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| JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images |
The New Enhanced Agreement (NEA) will be a comprehensive and cross-pillar agreement introducing a contractual basis for integration, convergence and cooperation in various fields such as political reforms, rule of law, human rights, border management, migration, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and free trade between Ukraine and the EU. But will this new agreement be sufficient to assist Ukraine’s faltering process of democratic consolidation?
Freedom of association in the Middle East and North Africa
With the rise of transnational terrorism, recent years have witnessed freedom of association in many countries being suppressed in the name of national security. Recognising the fundamental significance of the civil society for the dynamics of democratisation, the Club de Madrid embarked on a project aimed at strengthening dialogue on freedom of association across the Middle East and North Africa region. FRIDE contributes to this project with a series of country reports, which identify outstanding challenges and civil society’s ideas on how to resolve them. The first two of them are already available:
Photo of FotoLibre.net
More on the project "Freedom of asociation in the Middle East and North Africa"
Is European democracy promotion on the wane?
By Richard Youngs (13/05/2008)
The EU routinely asserts that the promotion of democracy and human rights is central to its international identity. This paper reveals serious limits across three strands of democracy policy – the magnitude of incentives offered in return for democratic change, the degree of critical pressure exerted for democratic reform and the scale of European democracy funding.
How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
By Publicaciones FRIDE (02/07/2008)
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| BRANISLAV PULJEVIC/AFP/Getty Images |
FRIDE and the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) look at six countries in Europe's neighbourhood to assess how the EU's declared commitment to democracy has translated in practical terms, and what the EU needs to do in order to improve its record.
Europe and the Middle East: In the Shadow of September 11
