How to Promote Democracy?

Michael Allen alerts us to a Politico article by Richard Gephardt and Vin Weber regarding the debate over the future of U.S. democracy promotion. Explaining that “[t]he internal affairs of other states matter to our security interests every bit as much as traditional state-to-state relations,” they argue that continued support for democracy should not be a question of if but how. The U.S. should approach democracy assistance in various forms, using both top-down and bottom-up tactics on a case-by-case basis, and maintain it as a priority in U.S. foreign policy.

Additionally, citing the recent release of Ayman Nour in Egypt, they highlight the importance of vigorously defending democracy activists, even in countries to which we are “linked for security and other reasons.”

The Source