Article
Thomas Carothers
REQUIRED IMAGE
Paper
Is Gradualism Possible? Choosing a Strategy for Promoting Democracy in the Middle East
Published on Jun 12, 2003
Source: Carnegie
Summary
As part of the changed U.S. geostrategic outlook arising from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, the Bush administration is giving greatly heightened attention to the issue of promoting democracy in the Middle East. Although a policy of coercive regime change has been applied in Iraq, the administration has pursued a more gradualist model of political change in most of the region.
There is still little consensus among U.S. policy makers regarding the best approach for implementing democracy. This working paper assesses three competing strategies that have emerged within the growing domain of gradualist pro-democratic policies and programs.
Click on link above for full text of this Carnegie Paper.
This is the third in a series of working papers that will frame key issues relating to democracy promotion policies and programs in the Middle East. Also in the series:
Liberalization Versus Democracy: Understanding Arab Political Reform, by Daniel Brumberg
Promoting Democracy in the Middle East: The Problem of U.S. Credibility, by Marina Ottaway
About the Author
Thomas Carothers, senior associate at the Carengie Endowment, is the founder and director of the Endowment's Democracy and Rule of Law Project. He is the author of several books on democracy promotion, including Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve, and a coauthor of Democratic Mirage in the Middle East (Carnegie Endowment Policy Brief No. 20).
Available only online.
About the Author
Thomas Carothers
Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies; Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Thomas Carothers, a senior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, is a leading expert on comparative democratization and international support for democracy.
- How Is Hungary’s New Government Doing?
- America Walks Away from Global DemocracyPaper
Thomas Carothers
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Europe
- A New Dawn for Democracy in SerbiaCommentary
Excitement is in the air following Aleksandar Vučić’s defeat in Serbia. To build a truly democratic state, the movement that unseated the former president must learn from the mistakes of the past.
Ivan Vejvoda
- Containing Escalation in the Black SeaCommentary
Russia is testing the waters of NATO’s mutual defense clause. What do strikes in Romanian territorial waters mean for the alliance’s posture toward Moscow?
Dimitar Bechev
- Taking the Pulse: Does the EU Have a France Problem?Commentary
With its public finances in shambles, the far right polling at 35 percent ahead of the 2027 presidential election, and a growing protest movement, is France’s crisis a threat to the EU’s geopolitical awakening?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
- The Scramble for Europe. Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional OrderBook
Europe is facing rising populism internally as well as external pressures from Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States.
Dimitar Bechev
- Europe’s Tide of Citizen Assemblies: Unsung Success or Anticlimax?Article
A notable degree of participative democracy has firmly arrived in Europe. But to have more far-reaching impact, democratic deliberation needs to move into a radically new phase.
Richard Youngs
