Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
What conservative civic activism portends for global civil society.
The EU needs to develop a far wider internal democracy strategy if it is to have any hope of unblocking Europe’s authoritarian trends.
In the Trump era, the transatlantic relationship can no longer be an engine of global democracy. The EU should work with non-Western democratic powers to uphold the liberal international order.
European donors should persist with a localist approach in Syria, but efforts should generate an inclusive notion of democratic citizenship rather than just support the liberal-moderate opposition.
Democratic renewal in the United States calls for locally driven public engagement rather than the establishment of a third party, which would likely further worsen polarization and governance.
The EU’s approaches to global order and international challenges are increasingly more selective.
The EU’s external financing instruments should be improved to make the union’s civil society support efforts more politically effective and more closely aligned with strategic aims.
Despite illiberal trends in Europe, surveys suggest citizens are becoming more engaged. The overall picture is one of both crisis and renewal.
An EU rethink must include new voices and involve a fully participative process of consultation.
The U.S. president’s decisive turn away from democracy and human rights support will have a major impact on EU strategic interests. Yet European leaders have failed to respond to this geopolitical shift.
