Promoting Polyarchy

Contoversial exposé of US policy towards democracy in the Third World.

Why does the United States promote democracy? How successful has it been? And why do critics often attack it for doing so? These are at least three of the questions examined in this wide-ranging discussion of American efforts to recast the international order in its own political image. The answers provided by a distinguished group of analysts are as diverse as they are challenging to traditional ways of thinking about US democracy promotion in terms of either a misconstrued moralism or an ideological facade masking some deeper, more sinister purpose. As we enter into the Twenty First century with American hegemony intact, it is vital to understand what drives the world's last remaining superpower. And this original study helps us do precisely that by exploring in detail and depth one of the more contentious, least analysed and most misunderstood aspects of American foreign policy.

A detailed examination of the role of US and European 'democracy promoters' in Jordan based on a diverse range of original source material.

This book investigates the relationship between democracy promotion and US national security strategy through an examination of the Reagan administration’s attempt to launch a global campaign for democracy in the early 1980s, which culminated in the foundation of the National Endowment for Democracy in 1983, and through an analysis of the early political interventions of the Endowment until 1986. A case study of the formation and early operations of the National Endowment for Democracy under the Reagan administration, based on primary documents from both the national security bureaucracy and the private sector, shows that while democracy promotion provided a new tactical approach to the conduct of US political warfare operations, these operations remained tied to the achievement of traditional national security goals such as destabilising enemy regimes and building stable and legitimate friendly governments, rather than being guided by a strategy based on the universal promotion of democracy. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of US Foreign Policy, Democracy Promotion and for those seeking to gain a better understanding of the Reagan Administration.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence have led to significant advances in science and medicine, but have also facilitated new forms of repression, policing and surveillance. AI policy has become without doubt a significant issue of global politics. The Global Politics of Artificial Intelligence tackles some of the issues linked to AI development and use, contributing to a better understanding of the global politics of AI. This is an area where enormous work still needs to be done, and the contributors to this volume provide significant input into this field of study, to policy makers, academics, and society at large. Each of the chapters in this volume works as freestanding contribution, and provides an accessible account of a particular issue linked to AI from a political perspective. Contributors to the volume come from many different areas of expertise, and of the world, and range from emergent to established authors.

By identifying the critical central contradictions that are built into the politics of the Horn of Africa, this book demonstrates that the crises of the Horn states stem from their political behaviour and structural forces, such as internal social forces, and global forces that have become involved on the sides of these states without requiring accountability, the rule of law, or the implementation of, at least, 'limited democracy'. The contributors provide a deep understanding of structural and conjunctural forces that have interacted in the processes of state power; the role of intervention of global powers; and the consequent failure to build state as a public domain. The book also enriches our social scientific knowledge that is essential to develop pragmatic policy measures to address these problems.

US Democracy Promotion in the Middle East seeks to explore the changes in US strategy towards democracy promotion in the Middle East during the Clinton and Bush administrations, with a particular focus on Egypt, Iraq and Kuwait. At a time of regional turmoil and political reform, the topic of democracy promotion has never been more pertinent. We are witnessing the emergence of popular movements that are challenging authoritarian governments long supported by the US. Tracing the contours of the ongoing transition in US policy in the Middle East, this book critically deconstructs the strategy of democracy promotion on both a theoretical and empirical level. By formulating and applying an analytical framework derived from a Gramscian approach, Markakis seeks to propose a re-evaluation of what US foreign policy in the Middle East truly constitutes, critiquing both the ideological foundations of the strategy as well as the implementation. This book will provide a solid foundation for the analysis of US policy and in particular the strategy of democracy promotion at this time of momentous transition across the region.