Democracy Promotion as Foreign Policy: Some Cautionary Reflections

Abstract:

This article draws chiefly on the experiences of the United States and the European Union — the two most important democracy promoters.

It suggests that the prominence given to promoting democracy elsewhere as part of the foreign policies of liberal democracies tends to diminish the challenges of democratization and has the potential to exacerbate international tensions, bring democracy itself into disrepute, and diminish the role of traditional diplomacy in managing differences between states.