Abstract
This book constitutes a second volume to Global Perspectives on US Foreign Policy: From the Outside In. It follows the same form as the first volume, providing a range of perspectives of American foreign policy from those who are on the receiving end of it. In this volume, we have chosen to focus on a very contentious aspect of US foreign policy—its efforts at democratization around the globe. Given the existence of an extensive literature examining US democratization assistance, one might ask, is there a need for yet another book on the subject. The answer is yes, because this is a book that explores US assistance with democratization in specific parts of the world, and it is written by natives of the countries under study. This provides a unique perspective for the conduct of these analyses. Understanding US foreign policy as it is understood by those who directly feel its impact, rather than determine it, is an important task, and it is the aim of this volume to assist with providing that understanding. As such, a group of scholars on international relations from around the globe have provided insights into US democratization efforts in their countries (or aspects of it) by giving their perspectives of them. These form the chapters of this book. Some of the theories and insights provided by previous studies and writings on US democratization inform these contributions. The aim, though, is not to rehash debates about US democracy assistance that can be found in the existing literature but rather to add a new dimension to these debates through the addition of broader perspectives that can only be provided by those on the outside looking in.
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Notes
- 1.
Samuel Huntington’s work explained in Renske Doorenspleet, “Reassessing the three waves of Democratization”, World Politics, Vol. 52, No. 3, April 2000, p. 384.
- 2.
Ibid., pp. 400–401.
- 3.
Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Defeating Authoritarian Leaders in Post-Communist Countries, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 3–34.
- 4.
Jeff Haynes, “Introduction” in Jeff Haynes (ed.), Democracy and Political Change in the ‘Third World’, London, Routledge, 2001, pp. 1–20.
- 5.
See the different annual reports released by Freedom House.
- 6.
Cfr. Franz Nuscheler, “Democracy: A Fragile Export” in Jochen Hippler (ed.), The Democratisation of Disempowerment: the Problem of Democracy in the Third World, London, Pluto Press, 1995, pp. 221–231; Liisa Laakso, “Whose Democracy? Which Democratization?” in Jochen Hippler (ed.), The Democratisation of Disempowerment, pp. 211–218, and Tanja Borzel, “The Noble West and the Dirty Rest? Western Democracy Promoters and Illiberal Regional Powers” Democratization, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 519–535.
- 7.
Tanja Borzel, Op. Cit., pp. 522–523.
- 8.
Steven Finkel et al., “The Effects of US Foreign Assistance on Democracy Building, 1990–2003”, World Politics, Vol. 59, No. 3, April 2007, pp. 404–438.
- 9.
Steven Finkel et al., Op. Cit., p. 436.
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Aňorve, D.A., Burt, S. (2016). Introduction. In: Burt, S., Añorve, D. (eds) Global Perspectives on US Democratization Efforts. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58984-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58984-2_1
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