Critical Mission: Essays on Democracy Promotion / Edition 1

by Thomas Carothers

Overview

Demand for practical knowledge and lessons about how the United States and other countries can more effectively promote democracy around the world has never been higher. This timely book by Thomas Carothers, one of the foremost authorities worldwide on democracy building, helps meet that need. Critical Mission draws together a wide-ranging set of Carothers's many seminal, widely cited essays, organized around four vital themes: the role of democracy promotion in U.S. foreign policy the core elements of democracy aid the state of democracy in the world the new U.S. push to promote democracy in the Middle East From puncturing myths about promoting civil society to sizing up the prospects for democracy in the Arab world, Carothers is consistently penetrating, incisive, and challenging to policymakers, democracy activists, and scholars alike.The book also includes the only up-to-date, comprehensive bibliography on democracy promotion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870032097
Publisher:	Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Publication date:	03/09/2022
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	297
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Thomas Carothers is vice president for international politics and governance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and founder and director of the Endowment's Democracy and Rule of Law Project.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
Section 1.	Introduction	1
Section 2.	The Place of Democracy Promotion in U.S. Foreign Policy	7
1.	Democracy and Human Rights: Policy Allies or Rivals? (1994)	9
2.	Democracy Promotion under Clinton (1995)	23
3.	The Clinton Record on Democracy Promotion (2000)	39
4.	Ousting Foreign Strongmen: Lessons from Serbia (2001)	53
5.	Promoting Democracy and Fighting Terror (2003)	63
6.	Democracy Promotion: Explaining the Bush Administration's Position (2003)
	The Core of U.S. Foreign Policy	75
	Carothers Replies	79
Section 3.	Core Elements of Democracy Aid	81
7.	The Rise of Election Monitoring: The Observers Observed (1997)	83
8.	Civil Society: Think Again (1999)	99
9.	Western Civil Society Aid to Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (1999)	107
10.	The Rule of Law Revival (1998)	121
11.	Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: The Problem of Knowledge (2003)	131
Section 4.	The State of Democracy	145
12.	Promoting Democracy in a Postmodern World (1996)	147
13.	Democracy without Illusions (1997)	155
14.	The End of the Transition Paradigm (2002)	167
15.	Debating the Transition Paradigm (2002
	In Partial Defense of an Evanescent "Paradigm"	185
	The Democratic Path	192
	Retaining the Human Dimension	198
	Tilting at Straw Men	204
	A Reply to My Critics	212
16.	Zakaria's Complaint (2003)	219
Section 5.	Into the Middle East	227
17.	Democratic Mirage in the Middle East (2002)	229
18.	Is Gradualism Possible? Choosing a Strategy for Promoting Democracy in the Middle East (2003)	237
19.	Democracy: Terrorism's Uncertain Antidote (2003)	251
Section 6.	Afterword	259
	Bibliography on Democracy Promotion	265
	Index	283
	About the Author	299
	Carnegie Endowment for International Peace	300

What People are Saying About This

Michael W. Doyle

"The Promotion of democracy has never had a more thoughtful advocate or a tougher critic than Thomas Carothers. Balanced, incisive, steeped in local knowledge and yet focused on the big picture, this remarkable collection of trenchant essays is full of good judgments and sharp insights. Essential reading for both democracy's critics and its advocates."
—Columbia University, author, WAYS OF WAR AND PEACE

Robert Kagan

"Thomas Carothers is the world's leading authority on democracy promotion. Though a passionate believer in the virtues of democracy, Carothers is no romantic. His analysis is as rigorous as it is compelling. This brilliant collection of essays reveals his unique sensibility: both hardheaded and humane. For anyone interested in the promise and pitfalls of promoting democracy around the world, Carothers's book is a gold mine."
—author, OF PARADISE AND POWER

Editorial Reviews

"Carothers's examinations have helped us think harder and more critically about our work and we are better at what we do because of his insights." —Kenneth Wollack, president, National Democratic Institute

"The promotion of democracy has never had a more thoughtful advocate or a tougher critic than Thomas Carothers. Balanced, incisive, steeped in local knowledge and yet focused on the big picture, this remarkable collection of trenchant essays is full of good judgments and sharp insights. Essential reading for both democracy's critics and its advocates." —Michael W. Doyle, author, WAYS OF WAR AND PEACE

"Thomas Carothers is the world's leading authority on democracy promotion. Though a passionate believer in the virtues of democracy, Carothers is no romantic. His analysis is as rigorous as it is compelling. This brilliant collection of essays reveals his unique sensibility: both hardheaded and humane. For anyone interested in the promise and pitfalls of promoting democracy around the world, Carothers's book is a gold mine." —Robert Kagan, author, of PARADISE AND POWER

From the Publisher