Is the European Union supporting democracy in its neighbourhood?
By Jos Boonstra, Julia Choucair Vizoso, Ana Echagüe, Balázs Jarábik, Kristina Kausch, Richard Youngs (19/12/2008)
This book aims to enhance understanding of the EU’s role in promoting human rights and democratic norms in the European Neighbourhood. It does so through a detailed study of the different EU instruments available to support democracy and human rights improvements, focusing on the cases of Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan.
Defending human rights and promoting democracy
By Jos Boonstra (19/12/2008)
This Activity Brief presents the conclusions of the roundtable on Euro-Atlantic approaches towards Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the field of democracy and human rights, held in Madrid on Friday 12 December. The meeting was organised by FRIDE and CEPS, with the support of the Human Rights Office of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and brought together a group of 25 researchers, academics, human rights activists, NGO representatives and Spanish policy-makers.
Publishing groups: EUCAM Project
Interviews with Kjell Magne Bondevik and Sadig al-Mahdi
By Publicaciones FRIDE (22/09/2008)
Club of Madrid Members Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway, and Sadig al-Mahdi, former Prime Minister of Sudan, led a series of dialogue missions in 2007 and 2008 to further democratic reform and freedom of association in Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco in 2007 and 2008.
Publishing groups: Freedom of association in the Middle East and North Africa
China: democratising one-party rule?
By Shaun Breslin (11/09/2008)
A more consultative form of politics is emerging in China. Questioning the one-party state is still not deemed legitimate and the demand for democratic change is hard to gauge.
Frederic Brown/AFP/Getty Images
The driving force behind the ushering in of a more open form of politics is the Chinese Communist Party's 'National Project'.
Is the EU serious about democracy in Lebanon?
By Julia Choucair Vizoso (12/08/2008)
Europe is deeply involved in and affected by the situation in Lebanon. From the European Union’s perspective, Lebanon’s security is vital for the security of the entire Mediterranean region, which is judged to be producing increasingly serious threats to the EU’s own stability and strategic security.
Publishing groups: How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
Is the EU serious about democracy in Jordan?
By Ana Echagüe (28/07/2008)
Political reform in Jordan, initiated with much fanfare in 1989 has not lived up to expectations. In fact, the last five years have seen significant reversals.
Publishing groups: How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
By Jos Boonstra, Julia Choucair Vizoso, Ana Echagüe, Kristina Kausch (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.
Zimbabwe: the same old dirty tricks
By Pierre Schori (27/06/2008)
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| Getty Images |
Is the League of Democracies a Bad Idea? how Europe should respond
By Michael Emerson, Richard Youngs (02/06/2008)
US Presidential candidate, John McCain, has proposed a League of Democracies, a concept that is being championed by his foreign policy adviser, Robert Kagan. This paper by Richard Youngs, Director for Democratization at FRIDE, and Michael Emerson, Senior Fellow at CEPS, argues against the establishment of a new organisation, but instead advocates a renewed commitment to democratic governance within existing international frameworks.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in Morocco?
By Kristina Kausch (29/05/2008)
The Action Plan for Morocco of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) contains a number of ambitious but selective reforms, which indirectly follow the Moroccan ruling elite’s course of modernisation and selective political reforms in carefully chosen areas which do not touch on the distribution of powers. If the EU is really serious about supporting genuine democracy and human rights in Morocco, the author suggests, it should take five measures to strengthen its practical commitment and impact with regard to its declared policy goals.
Publishing groups: How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan?
By Jos Boonstra (29/05/2008)
The National Indicative Programme states that ‘in recent years Azerbaijan has been slowly (although not always coherently) pursuing an “evolutionary” reform strategy to develop democracy and a market economy’. In reality, Azerbaijan is moving increasingly away from democracy and better human rights standards, as an authoritarian elite tightens its grip on society while prospering from enormous energy revenues.
Publishing groups: How serious is the EU about supporting democracy and human rights in its neighbourhood?
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.
Trends in democracy assistance: what has Europe been doing?
By Richard Youngs (21/04/2008)
This Journal of Democracy article assesses the recent evolution of European democracy support initatives, pointing to the advances made but also the enduring weaknesses of EU political aid.
Zimbabwe: "there's a great desire for change"
By Publicaciones FRIDE (09/04/2008)
Pierre Schori, current Director General of FRIDE, was head of the European Union Observer Mission during the Zimbabwean legislative elections in 2000, and the presidential elections of 2002. In this video interview he tells us about the country, the recovery of its economy and the great desire for change among its people which has allowed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to become a threat to the current regime.
Video FRIDE
NATO: what to expect from the Bucharest Summit
By Jos Boonstra (13/03/2008)
Are enlargement and the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme still effective tools for NATO in spreading democracy?
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, © NATO
And what can we expect in this sense from the upcoming summit in Bucharest in April?
Jos Boonstra explores the challenges and opportunities facing both NATO and the countries that hope to join the organisation in the years ahead.
Democracy promotion during Zapatero's government
By Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher (15/02/2008)
Foreign policy has been a divisive issue during the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and is likely to remain so in the campaign leading up to Spain's elections on March 9. This Backgrounder aims to provide overarching factual data on Spanish democracy assistance under the 2004-2008 administration. Its analysis remains “below the level of party politics”, and instead focuses on the progress made and weaknesses that remain in Spain's democracy promotion programmes.
Sarkozy's foreign policy: where do European interests and values stand?
By José Ignacio Torreblanca (12/02/2008)
Sarkozy's clean slate: a new French commitment to democracy and human rights?
By Metsa Rahimi (06/02/2008)
France’s heritage alone should stand it in good stead as a promoter of democracy, but so far its record has been uninspiring. With promises of new beginnings in his initial rhetoric, Nicolas Sarkozy has certainly made bold and well-publicised strides in defining a new foreign policy for France. But has his pragmatic realism brought any evidence to suggest a new vision for promoting democracy?
Photo by Getty Images
EU democracy promotion in Nigeria: between realpolitik and idealism
By Anna Khakee (18/12/2007)
In recent years, both the EU and its member states have paid allegiance to the goal of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images
This study examines how European democracy promotion has played out in Nigeria and asks to what extent has democracy been important for relations between the two.
The Community of Democracies: should Europe engage?
By Cristina Barrios (17/12/2007)
The EU strategy for Central Asia: promoting democracy and human rights
By Publicaciones FRIDE (07/12/2007)
On 19 November 2007 FRIDE organised a seminar entitled the "EU Strategy for Central Asia: Promoting Democracy and Human Rights". The event featured speakers from the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, key international organisations dealing with Central Asia as well as NGO representatives from the region.
Political Islam and European Foreign Policy
By Michael Emerson, Richard Youngs (26/11/2007)
For some time now, the EU’s policy towards the broad collection of "Muslim democrat" parties in the Mediterranean Arab states was largely one of "benign neglect". A group of experts led by Michael Emerson and Richard Youngs adduce mounting evidence in a new FRIDE, CEPS and Fundación Tres Culturas book that this policy may lead to negative consequences. Their arguments favour a broad inclusion of Muslim democrats in EU initiatives aiming at the reform of governance and the development of civil society.
The "Third Populist Wave" of Latin America
By Susanne Gratius (31/10/2007)
The return of democracy in Latin America has not brought the end of populism. Indeed populist politics seem to be experiencing a boom at the beginning of the 21st century. In contrast to other parts of the World, Latin America has seen populism take centre stage not only in the streets, but also in the halls of power. This Working Paper analyses the phenomenon of populism in Latin America and its relationship with democracy.
OSCE democracy promotion: grinding to a halt?
By Jos Boonstra (30/10/2007)
The OSCE is known for cooperation in security matters and its contribution to democratic transition in the vast Eurasian area. For some time now the OSCE has been under pressure, from both internal and external forces. Democracy promotion in particular has become highly contentious. Are the OSCE’s efforts in this field coming to a grinding halt?
What next for Turkey?
By Sabiha Senyücel (25/09/2007)
The final stages of the Tukish presidential election process attracted much attention from the European continent, Muslim world and the other side of the Atlantic. Why was the world watching so closely and what were they expecting to see?
Fusing Security and Development: just another euro-platitude?
By Richard Youngs (14/09/2007)
The EU has increasingly committed itself to fusing security and development. But even though developmental approaches to security are routinely seen as integral to the EU's distinctive foreign policy identity, this paper finds that much work remains to be done to implement this commitment.
European Union External Democracy Promotion
By Ana Echagüe, Susanne Gratius, Richard Youngs (10/09/2007)
A new book edited by Annettee Jünemann and Michèle Knodt examines a range of EU democracy promotion case studies. The book includes chapters by FRIDE researchers Ana Echagüe and Richard Youngs on the Middle East and Susanna Gratius on Latin America.
NATO's Role in Democratic Reform
By Jos Boonstra (01/05/2007)
NATO is known for providing security for its members and partners but does it also provide democracy?
Unfinished Business? Eastern Enlargement and Democratic Conditionality
By Geoffrey Pridham (05/04/2007)
Enlargement is acknowledged as the European Union’s most influential democracy promotion tool. Sobering lessons can be drawn from this most successful of EU policies for democracy promotion strategy.
Moldova, Transnistria and European Democracy Policies
By Jos Boonstra (01/02/2007)
The Moldova and Transnitria issue has been placed on the backburner, as others become more urgent in the region. An overview on Moldova's relations with the EU and suggestions for support of civil society in Transnistria are the subject of this Comment.
New Governments, New Directions in European Foreign Policies?
By Jos Boonstra, David Mathieson, Richard Youngs (10/01/2007)
In a number of EU member states, new governments have recently taken office; in others, a change in leadership is imminent. How are these political changes likely to change their respective state’s foreign policies?
Democracy promotion and the european left: ambivalence confused?
By David Mathieson, Richard Youngs (12/12/2006)
This paper provides an account of democracy-related debates within different quarters of the European left.
Strategies for Democratic Change: assessing the Global Response, Chapter 6 (Yemen)
By Ana Echagüe (01/06/2006)
Critique of what has been learned from the recent experience of the international community in Yemen and its response to opportunities for democratic change.
Survey of European Democracy Promotion Policies 2000-2006
By Kristina Kausch, David Mathieson, Irene Menendez, Richard Youngs (01/05/2006)
Against a background of heightened debate over international democratisation, this book provides the most comprehensive survey to date of European democracy promotion policies, including case studies of the policies of Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and European Union institutions, from 2000 to 2006.
The iberoamerican summit in Salamanca: from a cultural community to a political alliance?
By Susanne Gratius (07/11/2005)
The Iberoamerican Summit in Salamanca was a turning point in the history of the community of nations which is moving towards an international actor with a permanent Secretariat in Madrid and an observer status to the United Nations.
Helping Castro? EU and US policies towards Cuba
By Susanne Gratius (31/10/2005)
This paper explains why the EU and US policies of democracy promotion have not been successful and what could be done to improve their efficiency.
No lasting Peace and Prosperity without Democracy
By Richard Youngs (05/07/2005)
The reluctant debutante: The European Union as promoter of democracy in its neighbourhood
By Senem Aydin, Richard Youngs (01/07/2005)
Democracy and Human Rights in the Barcelona process: conclusions of a workshop at FRIDE
By Ana Echagüe (01/07/2005)
Democracy and Human Rights in the Barcelona Process: Conclusions of a Workshop at FRIDE, Madrid, 14–16 January 2005
Multiple candidate elections in Egypt: diverting pressure for democracy
By Robert Springborg (16/03/2005)
Seminar on democratic transition and consolidation 2001-2002: democracy in Mexico
By Manuel Alcántara Sáez, Ludolfo Paramio, José Ignacio Wert, Laurence Whitehead, José Woldenberg, Ernesto Zedillo (13/02/2001)
On December 1st, 2000, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León handed over the president’s ceremonial sash to Vicente Fox Quesada, the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN)’s candidate and the winner of the presidential election held earlier that year on July 2nd.
Europe and the Middle East: In the Shadow of September 11
