Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire Archives


Category: Concert of Democracies

10-Year Anniversary of Community of Democracies

July 22nd, 2010 by Farid

On July 2-4 the Community of Democracies met for its 10th-year anniversary in Krakow, Poland. The National Democratic Institute reports that the “meeting focused on challenges to democracy and, specifically, how to overcome obstacles in the path of building civil society in the contemporary world.” The meeting initiated a “global democracy work plan” focusing on “civil society protections, gender equality and women’s rights, poverty, development and democracy, promoting democracy and responding to national and transnational threats and regional cooperation.” In her remarks (available as pdf), former Secretary of State and current NDI Chairman, Madeleine K. Albright, said  “Real democracy is built on a moral foundation. It is based on respect for the rights and dignity of every human being, no matter how humble or how disadvantaged that person might be.”


Posted in Civil Society, Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion | Comment »

Iran: Turkey and Brazil’s Challenge to the U.S. Nuclear Game Plan

May 26th, 2010 by Chanan

Ahmet Davutoglu and Celso Amorim, the respective foreign ministers for Turkey and Brazil, took to the op-ed pages of the New York Times today to spell out the rationale for, and importance of, the May 17th nuclear fuel swap deal. In a piece called “Giving Diplomacy a Chance,” the two argue that they are in full support for a nuclear-free world and that any attempt to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon state will only be successful through “result-oriented negotiations.” They explain: “There is only one viable solution to disagreements with Iran over its nuclear program, and that is a negotiated diplomatic solution.”

The day prior, however, Thomas Friedman, expressed his utter disgust for this deal perpetuated by two nascent democracies. “Is there anything uglier,” he asks, “than watching democrats sell out other democrats to a Holocaust-denying, vote-stealing Iranian thug just to tweak the U.S. and show that they, too, can play at the big power table?” Friedman continues that while halting Iran’s budding nuclear program should remain a priority for the international community, it mustn’t get in the way of support for the Green Movement, which he believes is “the most important, self-generated, democracy movement to appear in the Middle East in decades.” He concluded that a democratic Iran with a bomb is a far better scenario than an authoritarian Iran with a bomb.

The Arabist’s Issandr El Amrani finds Friedman to be nothing short of hypocritical. He argues that “the US backs plenty of undemocratic countries for much worse reasons that Brazil’s desire to play a role on the world stage and Turkey doing the same as well as trying to avoid a war on its borders.” He also asserts that he “would rather see a democratic Iran with the bomb rather than an autocratic Iran without it.”

Nonetheless, Foreign Policy’s James Traub thinks the U.S. “overrates the salience of democracy to foreign policy” and that the evolution of independent-minded maturing middle power democracies, such as Turkey and Brazil, is proof that a synonymous type of government won’t necessarily produce synonymous foreign policy interests. This inherent shift away from uni-polarity, writes Graham E. Fuller, should be applauded. “Shouldn’t the world welcome the actions of two significant, responsible, democratic, and rational states to intervene and help check the foolishnesses of decades of US policy?”


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Diplomacy, Iran, Turkey, US foreign policy, Uncategorized | Comment »

Morocco: Not Much Improved After Ten Years of Mohammed VI

August 5th, 2009 by Max

In a piece for Brookings, POMED’s James Liddell and Brookings’ own Maati Monjib traces the evolution of King Mohammed VI of Morocco’s ten years on the throne.  While the end of King Hassan II’s reign and the beginning of King Mohammed’s rule saw marked improvements in the government’s oppressive tactics, the locus of power remains embodied in the king himself.

Although women have seen their lot improve substantially, and Morocco has become more attractive to foreign investors, the “King of the Poor” has not allowed any reforms that would diminish his authority or his highly exceptional economic status. Furthermore, there has been a substantial drawing-down of press freedoms. The result is an environment where government accountability is negligible and the political class grows “increasingly apathetic and controlled.” Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Freedom, Human Rights, Middle Eastern Media, Morocco, Reform | Comment »

Sweet Song or Foul Music?

October 3rd, 2008 by Amanda

At the American Conservative, Justin Raimondo considers America’s push for democratization as “a twisted replay of the Cold War, with the U.S. taking the part of Russia”, deriding the Concert of Democracies as “no symphony but a pro-American version of the Warsaw Pact”. At the 63rd UN General Assembly last week President Bush continued to stress the US “must stand united in our support of other young democracies”.

Raimondo digs into some history of the League of Nations and how the UN plays a role in the democratization play, but his general question is, “will the public buy it?”


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion, United Nations | Comment »

2008: Goldgeier On The League of Democracies, And Why 2008 Is Different From 1992

August 5th, 2008 by Matt

Last week Jim Goldgeier had a piece up at political science blog The Monkey Cage that’s well worth highlighting here.  Goldgeier, drawing in part from his forthcoming book co-written with Derek Chollet, takes a look at why democracy promotion, and specifically John McCain’s idea for a League of Democracies, has not gained much traction so far in this election cycle.  Goldgeier argues that in 1991-92, there was an unusual convergence of international relations theory (specifically the Democratic Peace theory), campaign politics, and global trends toward democracy that is mostly absent today.  Thus, there is little real political payoff for McCain’s idea.  Goldgeier also suggests that although it might be handy to have a tool through which democratic nations can circumvent the veto power of major autocracies at the UN, the notion that all or even most democracies share enough of the same foreign policy goals to make the tool useful is highly dubious.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion, Election 08, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

2008: Lake on Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and the League of Democracies

July 2nd, 2008 by Matt

In an interview with Financial Times, Obama adviser Anthony Lake talks about the seriousness of the Iranian threat and how his candidate’s ideas for engaging Iran relate to current European strategies for engagement.  Lake also briefly discusses Obama’s “very responsible” Iraq strategy and his “still relevant” proposals for tracking and using force against terrorists in Pakistan.  Although Lake offers criticisms of John McCain’s proposals in many of these areas, he is not as keen to target McCain’s League of Democracies idea, which Lake believes could be carefully formed into a useful tool to defend “common values”.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Election 08, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

2008: League of Democracies

July 1st, 2008 by Matt

In US News & World Report, Kevin Whitelaw takes a quick look at John McCain’s proposal for a “League of Democracies”.  Calling on Obama adviser Richard Danzig and democracy scholar Thomas Carothers, Whitelaw highlights a couple of the most pertinent criticisms of the proposal after briefly summarizing some of the reasons McCain has offered for how it might be useful.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Election 08, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

League of Democracies and War

June 26th, 2008 by Adam

In the Daily Star, Robert Skidelsky castigates the idea of a “League of Democracies” as a flawed, unnecessary pipe dream. The concept is flawed in that it is based on the ideas that democracies will agree on important international issues and that long-term peace between democracies and non-democracies is not feasible. He fears that such a league will disrupt the current international order by marginalizing Russia and China, and allowing the league “…to legitimize war-making by democracies - in order to spread democracy!”


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion | Comment »

League of Democracies

June 25th, 2008 by Adam

In an article in Foreign Policy (registration required), Thomas Carothers examines the idea of a “League of Democracies,” and the logical pitfalls it encounters when thought about more concretely. The most faulty assumption made by advocates of the idea is the premise that shared democratic values will foster a consensus on foreign policy. Furthermore, outside the U.S. there are few advocates for this idea as there is skepticism that it would be a vehicle for promoting American interests rather than promoting democracy.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion | Comment »

2013: McCain’s Vision

May 15th, 2008 by Matt

In a speech delivered today in Columbus, Ohio, John McCain sought to lay out his vision for the U.S. at the end of his first term in January 2013.  With regard to the Middle East, McCain focused solely on Iraq, which he believes will be a “functioning democracy” still suffering some lingering ill effects from tyranny and sectarian tension.  The U.S. role in Iraq will be massively reduced to minor non-combat operations. AQI will have been defeated and the overall terrorist threat to the U.S. “greatly reduced” thanks to effective counterinsurgency cooperation with allies and governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A nascent “League of Democracies” will have gained credibility through pressuring the government of Sudan to accept a robust multinational peacekeeping operation, and the League will be prepared to tackle similar challenges around the globe.

Robert Kagan defends McCain’s League of Democracies concept in the Financial TimesIlan Goldenberg is wary of any hopeful words from McCain, and Matt Yglesias seconds his skepticism.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Election 08, Iraq, US foreign policy | Comment »

2008: League of Democracies Being Shelved by McCain?

April 28th, 2008 by Matt

About a year ago today, John McCain first aired the idea of a “League of Democracies” saying that it “would form the core of an international order of peace based on freedom.” McCain also said it would “act where the UN fails to act” while taking care to assure people that it would “complement” not “supplant” the UN and other international organizations. As Sameer Lalwani points out, this is an idea that has been floated in various forms well before the McCain candidacy. Sameer also gives us video of Charles Krauthammer arguing on Fox News that this is a brilliant idea because of its hidden agenda–killing the UN.

Despite McCain’s early enthusiasm for the idea, in Saturday’s LA Times Paul Richter chronicles the downward trajectory of this idea in McCain’s foreign policy rhetoric over the past few months.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Election 08, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

A League of Democracies?

December 17th, 2007 by Sean

At the Washington Realist today, Nicolas Gvosdev responds to an earlier article by Robert Kagan, in which Kagan argued that the world was experiencing an autocratic resurgence which called for a new alliance of democracies. For his part, Gvosdev contends that global entanglements of national and economic interests lead to a more complicated world than any “league of democracies” would admit.


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Democracy Promotion | Comment »

Concert of Democracies, continued

August 13th, 2007 by Audrey

Debate over the “Concert of Democracies” theory, stirred last week by the Washington Post op-ed by Ivo Daalder and Robert Kagan, continues at Partnership for a Secure America; Brian Vogt, commenting on a response by Christopher Preble and David Rieff at the National Interest, says, “the key factor will be the breadth of membership of the “Concert of Democracies” that will provide the international legitimacy of intervention.”


Posted in Concert of Democracies | Comment »

Scowcroft on Multi-lateralism and "Concert of Democracies"

August 8th, 2007 by Audrey

In an op-ed to the International Herald Tribune, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft argues that the United States must embrace multi-lateralism. Touching on the concept of the “Concert of Democracies,” Scowcroft says, “I know that some have proposed a new league or assembly of the world’s democratic states as a solution. And if the goal of such a body is to assist in the promotion and extension of democratic norms around the world, that is fine. But seeing this as some sort of a new bloc in world affairs is a bad idea.
It is not useful at this juncture to again be dividing the world up between the good and the evil. Moreover, most countries are, at this point in time, motivated by a variety of interests, and shared commitment to a democratic form of governance is not the best yardstick.”


Posted in Concert of Democracies, Diplomacy | Comment »

Concert of Democracies

August 6th, 2007 by Audrey

In an op-ed to today’s Washington Post, Ivo Daalder and Robert Kagan renew calls for the creation of a formalized Concert of Democracies to serve as a useful multi-lateral mechanism for bestowing legitimacy on international interventions. TNR’s Jonathan Chait says of the op-ed, “Others have proposed this idea before, but the pairing of the authors, and the logic they use to arrive at the conclusion, is interesting and worth a read.” Nikolas Gvosdev at The Washington Realist is not as impressed, complaining; “The fantasy of a vast alliance of democracies all anxious and eager to support the United States in the world just refuses.”


Posted in Concert of Democracies | Comment »