Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire Archives


Category: Publications

Yemen: U.S. Assisted Raids on al-Qaeda

December 21st, 2009 by Jason

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. “provided intelligence and other assistance to Yemeni forces in attacks Thursday against suspected al-Qaeda targets.”  According to The New York Times, President Obama approved the request for support from the Yemeni government for the raids which killed at least 34 militants. 

Waq al-Waq worries that the U.S. is not only providing assistance against al-Qaeda, but against the Houthis as well, which he calls a “mistake.” In addition, he questions the success of the raids given the high number of civilian casualties,the blowback in the Yemeni press, and the failure to kill the main target, Qasim al-Raymi. Instead, he urges the U.S. to do “a lot more prep work and development work to […] undermine al-Qaeda.” Finally, he points to a report by Alistair Harris and Michael Page that warns against narrowly focusing on al-Qaeda to the exclusion of the other problems that confront Yemen.

Meanwhile, a Houthi spokesman is claiming Saudi air strikes killed 54 civilians, as local tribal sources have informed that the rebel leader Abdul  Malak al-Houthi has been seriously injured. Neither of these reports have been confirmed independently.


Posted in Military, Publications, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Yemen, al-Qaeda | 1 Comment »

Report: Religion Restricted Most in Middle East

December 18th, 2009 by Jason

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a new report on the “Global Restrictions on Religion.” The report concludes that “among all regions, the Middle East-North Africa has the highest government and societal restrictions on religion.” Concerning governmental restrictions, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt are among the worst offenders. For societal restrictions, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia rank among the worst. Overall, the report identifies Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and India as the most restrictive countries.

Meanwhile, Babylon and Beyond reports that Al Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy has stopped the presses on a book criticized as discriminatory towards Christians. The book, “The Scientific Report,” contends Christianity is a form of paganism. Coptic officials had filed a report to the attorney general accusing the book’s author Mohamed Emara of blasphemy, but they have now expressed their relief at Al Azhar’s decision to cancel the publication.


Posted in Afghanistan, Egypt, Freedom, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Journalism, Pakistan, Public Opinion, Publications, Saudi Arabia | Comment »

Secretary Clinton: Human Rights Speech in Arabic

December 17th, 2009 by Jason

The State Department has released an Arabic version of Secretary Clinton’s important speech on human rights this week. To read about the speech in English, please refer to our previous post.



Posted in Democracy Promotion, Freedom, Human Rights, Publications, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Time: Person of the Year

December 16th, 2009 by Jason

Time has named Ben Bernanke as Person of the Year in 2009. However, the magazine also includes several people related to the Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy.

General McChrystal was a runner-up for Person of the Year. In its list of “People Who Mattered,” Time includes Neda Agha-Soltan, Hamid Karzai and “The Twitter Guys” for their website’s role in the Iranian opposition movement.

Meanwhile, Foreign Policy has also come out with a list of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” also naming Bernanke as number one. Others listed include Barack Obama (2), Zahra Rahnavard (3), Bill and Hillary Clinton (6), David Petraeus (8), Sayyid Imam al-Sharif (10), Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart (20), Fareed Zakaria (37), George Soros (38), Abdolkarim Soroush (45), Tariq Ramadan (49), Salam Fayyad (61), Anne-Marie Slaughter (79), and Samantha Power (80).


Posted in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Military, Palestine, Publications | Comment »

Report: Human Rights on the Decline Part II

December 12th, 2009 by Jason

As we reported earlier, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) has released a comprehensive and thorough report, called “Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform,” on the state of human rights throughout the Arab world. The full report in Arabic spans 254 pages and chronicles in detail the backsliding on human rights in the region while also identifying a few points of optimism. In addition to the full report, CIHRS has released a translation of the report’s introduction written by their general director, Bahey eldin Hassan, as well as a 21-page summary of the report in English.

According to Hassan’s introduction, while there have been important strides to “ease repressive measures” in the Middle East under the Forum of the Future regional initiative, in no country were there “real constitutional, legislative, or institutional gains that could upset the balance of power between authoritarian regimes and the forces of reform.” Hassan blames this failure on the narrow focus on electoral reform at the expense of human rights, the contradictory actions of the G-8 countries, attempts by the Arab League to co-opt reform with their own homegrown initiatives, and the European and American fear of Islamist electoral victories. Finally, Hassan contends “the last spark in the initiatives was quashed once and for all with the arrival of a new US administration” apparently unwilling to support democracy rhetorically.

Now, Hassan warns that the minor gains made over the past five years are under a “counterattack by Arab governments. Among other examples of backtracking, the Arab league disabled the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which only had 10 of 22 signatory countries to begin with. As with the CIHRS report last year, Hassan concludes that “lack of political will on the part of most regimes in the Arab region was the key to understanding and explaining chronic human rights problems in the region.”

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Algeria, Arab League, Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, EU, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Gulf, Hamas, Hezbollah, Human Rights, Iraq, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Israel, Jordan, Journalism, Judiciary, Kurds, Lebanon, Legislation, Military, Morocco, Multilateralism, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Palestine, Political Islam, Political Parties, Protests, Public Opinion, Publications, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Sectarianism, Syria, Tunisia, US foreign policy, United Nations, Western Sahara, Women, Yemen | 1 Comment »

Iran: Regime at a Tipping Point?

December 10th, 2009 by Jason

Tehran Bureau reports that some pro-opposition students staged protests for a third day in a row, despite government warnings. Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad has begun to receive some flack for his accusation that the America is preventing the return of the Hidden Imam, as religious scholars questioned Ahmadinejad’s authority to make such religious proclamations. Tehran Bureau also points to an interview with Shirin Ebadi by ABC, in which she promises “this regime will not last.”

The regime-affiliated Fars News Agency has published photos of leading student activist Majid Tavakoli disguised as a woman. Opposition members and human rights activists have responded harshly, claiming that Tavakoli was “severely beat[en]” during his arrest and forced to wear women’s clothing after being taken into custody. Such treatment has led to a new Amnesty International report that concludes respect for human rights in Iran has fallen to a 20-year low. The report urges Ayatollah Khamenei to allow U.N. human rights experts to conduct an investigation on human rights abuses in the country.

The Daily Star editorial staff observe “repression seems to be the government’s only response to opposition […] the regime has betrayed the Islamic Republic’s most sacred founding principles and sought to impose a SAVAK-style police state.” The real danger for the regime, they argue, is how such repression will “compound the pre-existing strains on the government, particularly unemployment, inflation, and other economic woes” that could result in a “highly combustible mix of public discontent.” Meanwhile, per Geneive Abdo in Foreign Policy, ”the circle around Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hardening and shrinking - and more and more, his former allies are turning against him.”

Such public discontent has led to a rhetorical shift amongst the opposition from rejecting the June elections to opposing the Islamic regime itself, according to Amir Taheri in The Wall Street Journal. As such, Taheri contends the Iran has now reached a historical tipping point. In agreement, Andy McCarthy at NRO argues that  ”The regime in Tehran, our enemy, is teetering on the brink of collapse.” As such, he calls for a “little push” through American rhetorical support and refined gasoline sanctions. 

In fact, Laura Rozen reports that there has been a push in Congress, initiated by Sen. Jon Kyle (R-Ariz.), to pass the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act by unanimous consent. The effort, for now, seems to have been halted with pressure from State Department and possibly a former or informal objection from at least one Senate office. Meanwhile, Robert Dreyfuss argues not only against imposing gasoline sanctions on Iran, but also against actively supporting the green movement. Such well-intentioned but misplaced support would allow Tehran “to refocus on the Great Satan’s interference in Iranian affairs” and make nuclear negotiations impossible.

Babak Siavoshy identifies one way the U.S. can help the Iranian opposition. According to Siavoshy, the U.S. should help Iranians gain “unfiltered Internet access, and take measures to curb censorship by the Iranian government.” Towards this end, the U.S. should invest in anti-filtering technologies, restrict sale of censorship technology to the Iranian government, make news more accessible, and protect the rights of bloggers.

Laura Rozen also reports that Iranian authorities have presented a list of Iranians they believe to be held by the U.S., asking for their release in exchange for the release of the three American hikers. The Iranian list is composed largely of Iranians who have been detained for illegal activities, such as purchasing military equipment for Iran, as well as purported nuclear defectors. According to one U.S. official, “we cannot afford to accept the Iranian frame that there is an equivalence between indicted arms dealers and innocent hikers who happen to wander across a hostile border.”

Finally, Sanaz Meshkinpour interviews Iranian director Mehran Tamadon, who has just completed a documentary about the Basij militia.


Posted in Congress, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Journalism, Oil, Protests, Publications, US foreign policy, US politics, United Nations, sanctions | Comment »

Report: Human Rights On the Decline

December 9th, 2009 by Jason

AFP reports the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies has released an extensive report on the state of human rights in 12 Arab countries. The report, entitled “Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform,” concludes human rights has deteriorated across the Arab world in 2009 as “peaceful rotation of power through representative politics, and clean and competitive elections remained a dream in most countries.” Egypt and Syria were specifically identified as primary human rights abusers, especially in the use of torture and repressing rights activists.

CIHRS has made the report available online in Arabic, along with a report summary and introduction translated into English.


Posted in Egypt, Freedom, Human Rights, Publications, Syria | 1 Comment »

Iran: Arguing New Approaches

December 1st, 2009 by Zack

Michael Allen has written that the U.S. needs to develop a twin-track strategy on strategy that addresses the nuclear issue and responds to Iran’s intensifying ideological “cold war” on the country’s democrats. He relates Paula J. Dobriansky and Christian Whiton’s sentiment that the U.S. should “use the European Union, Iran’s largest trading partner, to engage the regime while also supporting the opposition.”

Micah Zenko argues that the recent IAEA report on Iran shows that the world is at a day of reckoning.  He argues that Iran could go nuclear at any moment and that we should prepare for a high-risk military attack from Israel, catalyzing further instability.  The Financial Times argues that the U.S. does well to keep the Geneva process open, but the Security Council should prepare sanctions.

The NY Times reports on a panel discussion between Charles S. Robb, Daniel R. Coats, and Charles Wald, authors of a report for the Bipartisan Policy Center.   The three men stressed a literal reading of the President Obama’s will to stop Iran’s nuclear drive and the need for the U.S. to address its credibility gap in its ability to use force.  Wald and Robb disagreed on the necessity of attacking Iran, while Wald put forth the idea that should sanctions fail the U.S. will likely resort to a  mixture of containment and deterrence.

Masssoumeh Torfeh argues that military and economic sanctions are extremely precarious in terms of strategy and effectiveness, instead “the most viable path for the international community remains the defence of human rights in Iran and support for the fledgling opposition movement in challenging Ahmadinejad’s presidential mandate.”  Mona Charen quotes Michael Ledeen saying that Obama is deluding himself by “genuflecting” and reaching out to the Iranian mullahs.  Instead, he should offer strong moral support to the Iranian people, who are huge consumers of international media, and destroy Iranian weapon assembly sites that supply America’s adversaries.

These arguments come as the NY Times reports that Iran has seized a British yacht from the Persian Gulf and are holding the crew of five, with the regime promising firm action if they are found guilty.  David Keyes explores President Ahmadinejad’s personal blog in which he takes a page from Yasser Arafat by offering platitudes in English and inciting violence in Farsi.

Lastly, Inside Tehran has released its latest edition.  The current issue features articles about Ahmedinejad’s declining popularity in rural areas, Iranian efforts to suppress protests abroad, and analysis of Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli’s decision to resign in protest.


Posted in Diplomacy, Events, Human Rights, Iran, Public Opinion, Publications, Reform, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »

World’s Most Influential Muslims

November 19th, 2009 by Jason

The Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University has released a detailed list of the “The 500 Most Influential Muslims.” While the report (PDF) admits defining influence is “tricky,” it seeks to identify “people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim.” The report provides profiles for the top 50 individuals, as well as a detailed overview of Islam.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia edges out Grand Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran for the most influential Muslim in the world. They are followed by Morocco’s King Hassan, Jordan’s King Abdullah, and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.

In The Guardian, Riazat Butt identifies several anomalies in the list, such as comedian Dave Chapelle. She also expresses her discontent that so few women are identified, and those that do make the list are given a separate category. Furthermore, she observes that many of the top 50 Muslims are heads of state who inherited their position, citing the report’s distinct category of Muslims who are influential because of their lineage.


Posted in Egypt, Gulf, Iran, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Kuwait, Morocco, Political Islam, Publications, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Women | Comment »

New Arab Reform Bulletin

November 12th, 2009 by Jason

A new Arab Reform Bulletin has been released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In this issue, Sam Parker explains why the passing of the Iraq election law provides a “fair” outcome for the Kurds while also offering a “small victory” to the anti-Kurd forces. The election law will allow Kurds on the 2009 voting rolls to vote normally, despite fears by anti-Kurd politicians that Kurds are moving to Kirkuk en masse to alter political outcomes. However, the law also stipulates a mechanism to investigate fraud, should the voting outcome appear suspicious. Parker concludes that the “national elections law debate is emblematic of the current state of Iraqi politics: slow, messy, and factionalized, but ultimately democratic and successful in achieving the minimum necessary to carry Iraq forward without falling apart.”

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Algeria, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Hamas, Iraq, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Israel, Journalism, Legislation, Libya, Military, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, North Africa, Palestine, Political Islam, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Publications, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism | Comment »

Middle East International Refounded

November 9th, 2009 by Jason

The Middle East International has restarted its printing press after a six-year hiatus, releasing a free PDF issue online in commemoration. According to the Arabist, MEI offers “long articles and analysis from writers based in-country who [know] what they [are] talking about.”

There are several articles in the first issue related to democracy in the Middle East.  David Gardner explores why “the Arab world is mired in despotism” and blames America’s “morbid fear of political Islam” for its failure to promote democracy in the region. While the Bush “freedom agenda” is no more, the realization that “tyranny, connived in by the West, breeds terrorism, instability, and societal stagnation” still holds true. Therefore, “President Obama needs to rescue that insight before it is swept away in a backlash of shallow realism.” Gardner continues, “support for autocracy and indulgence of corruption in this region, far from securing stability, breeds extremism and, in extremis, failed states.” Yet while the U.S. must do more to promote democracy, Gardner reminds us that ultimately Arab citizens must lead the effort to democratize their respective countries.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Arab League, Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Gulf, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Islamist movements, Israel, Lebanon, Legislation, Libya, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Neocons, Oil, Political Islam, Political Parties, Publications, Reform, Sectarianism, Secularism, Turkey, US foreign policy, Uncategorized, United Nations, sanctions | Comment »

New Look into Saudi Arabia

November 9th, 2009 by Zack

As Saudi Arabia continues to clash with Yemeni rebels, reportedly capturing 250 on Monday, Martin Sieff has reviewed Robert Lacey’s new book on the Saudi kingdom. “Inside the Kingdom” is touted as an outstanding perspective into the tension within the royal family and with extremists brought out by Lacey’s deep, but critical, ties with the royal family.  His book also looks at the “often petty officiousness” of the religious police in light of rapid modernization and the kingdom’s decision to seek strong allies outside of the West.


Posted in Publications, Saudi Arabia | Comment »

International Religious Freedom Report Released

October 27th, 2009 by Jason

The State Department has released its annual International Religious Freedom report this week. The report evaluates the extent people can practice their religion freely throughout the world. In the introduction of the report, the new Assistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner, reiterates President Obama’s belief that “religious freedom is a fundamental right, a social good, a source of stability, and a key to international security.”

Assistant Secretary Posner also delivered remarks upon the report’s release, explaining the U.S. does not act as the “world’s arbiter on religious freedom, but rather  as a member of a community of nations that have committed ourselves to upholding international human rights standards.” Posner explained there have been several improvements over the past year, such as the joint U.S.-Egyptian proposal to the Human Rights Council and a number of interfaith initiatives in Jordan, Qatar, Spain and elsewhere. However, the last year has also seen some negative developments, such as the proposal of overzealous blasphemy laws and increasing religious tension in Central Asia. Posner rejected the claim that Islam inherently contradicts human rights, asserting all religions are based on “assumptions of humanity and ethical behavior.”

Secretary Hillary Clinton spoke as well at the release, asserting that not only is “the right to profess, practice, and promote one’s religious belief […] a founding principle of our nation,” but it is also a universal value agreed upon by mankind.  She also contended that “the protection of speech about religion is particularly important since persons of different faiths will inevitably hold divergent views on religious questions. These differences should be met with tolerance, not with the suppression of discourse.”


Posted in Egypt, Freedom, Gulf, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Jordan, Publications, Saudi Arabia, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »

New Report on USAID

October 27th, 2009 by Jason

Thomas Carothers has released a new report, “Revitalizing Democracy Assistance: The Challenge of USAID” that explores needed reforms in foreign democracy assistance. The report recommends three key reforms: decreasing bureaucratization, bolstering local ownership of projects and strengthening the institutional emphasis of democracy promotion within USAID.

The report concludes “a successful revitalization of USAID’s democracy and governance work would be a telling signal that the Obama administration is forging significant institutional changes that will help the United States meet the serious challenges that democracy’s uncertain global fortunes now pose.”


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Publications, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »

North Africa Rated Less Democratic than Sub-Saharan Africa

October 14th, 2009 by Jason

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has released its latest index that “provides a comprehensive ranking of African countries according to governance quality.” The index breaks the data down into four broad categories: safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

The Arab countries of North Africa fared moderately well on the overall score. Out of 53 countries, Tunisia ranked 8th, Egypt 11th, Algeria 14th, Morocco 16th and Libya 23rd. For the safety and rule of law vector, Arab countries performed slightly above average, with Egypt ranking 16th, Tunisia 17th, Morocco 22nd, Algeria 28th and Libya 33rd.

However, the Arab countries performed below average on participation and human rights, which considered political participation, human rights and gender equality. On these marks, Algeria ranked 31st, Egypt 34th, Tunisia 35th, Morocco 40th and Libya 50th.

Among the Arab countries, Tunisia fared better than expected while Morocco fared worse. Tunisia’s surprisingly good performance seems to be a result of its relatively high levels of gender equality compared to other Arab countries. However, Tunisia’s scores on political participation and human rights rank below other Arab countries, with particularly dismal scores for freedom of expression, freedom of association and the risk of human rights abuses.

Morocco’s particularly low aggregate score stems largely from its lack of executive elections, for which, as a monarchy, it receives a score of zero. However, Morocco ranked the highest among the Arab countries on many indicators, including free and fair general elections, political rights, freedom of association, civil liberties, and freedom of expression.

Despite the internal highs and lows among the Arab countries, it is clear that Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt all lag significantly behind the rest of Africa in the areas of participation and human rights.


Posted in Algeria, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Journalism, Judiciary, Libya, Morocco, Political Parties, Publications, Reform, Tunisia, Women | 1 Comment »

New insideIran Articles Published

October 9th, 2009 by Jason

InsideIran has released their second issue today, featuring several articles about sanctions, internal Iranian politics and the Geneva negotiations.

Genieve Abdo details Iran’s “slide toward military dictatorship.” During Ahmadinejad’s term, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) asserted dominance “socially, politically, militarily, and economically” and played a key role in guaranteeing his re-election this June. Now, Supreme Leader Khamenei’s recently appointments to the IRGC has given “hard-liners unprecedented power.” Abdo concludes “this will surely lead to a more restrictive society at the precise moment a broad-based opposition movement seemed to promise real change.”

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Elections, Iran, Iraq, Military, Public Opinion, Publications, Reform, US foreign policy, sanctions | Comment »

Journal of Democracy Released

October 9th, 2009 by Jason

The latest edition of the Journal of Democracy is now available, featuring articles on the relationships between democracy and poverty, elections in India and South Africa and postwar reconstruction. Of particular interest is a group of articles about recent events in Iran.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, NGOs, Political Parties, Publications, Reform, Women | Comment »

New Arab Reform Bulletin

October 7th, 2009 by Jason

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has released the latest Arab Reform Bulletin.

In this issue, Hamadi Redissi contends that despite all the pitfalls of Tunisia’s upcoming October 25th election, it might be an opportunity for the “opposition to push back red lines and expand the margins of freedom.” Although Jordan’s Al-Ikha parliamentary bloc possesses “all the characteristics of an effective group of reformers,” Andrew Barwig explains why they will ultimately lose influence and cave into pressure “to tow the government’s line.” Mervat Rishmawi discusses the current status of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, arguing its success “will depend on how seriously Arab states and Arab human rights organizations decide to take it.”

Maati Monjib elaborates on the significance of female participation in Morocco’s June elections on the greater picture of gender equality in the country. Finally, Vivian Ibrahim argues that the Egyptian government’s decision to cull the country’s pigs to fight swine flu has not only increased Muslim-Christian tensions but also represents “the systematic alienation of Egypt’s poorest communities, Copt and Muslim alike.”


Posted in Arab League, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Jordan, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political Parties, Publications, Tunisia, United Nations, Women | 1 Comment »

New Report on Peacebuilding

October 7th, 2009 by Jason

The United States Institute of Peace and the United States Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute have released a detailed report presenting “the first strategic ‘doctrine’ ever produced for civilians engaged in peacebuilding missions.” The report explains how to achieve the five “end states’ of peacebuilding missions: safe and secure environment, rule of law, stable governance, sustainable economy and social well-being.

The report defines the rule of law as the “ability of the people to have equal access to a self-sustaining justice system that is consistent with international human rights standards and is equally applied” and asserts that it is “the foundation for economic and political recovery and prosperity.”

Stable governance is the “ability of the people to share, access, or compete for power through nonviolent political processes and to enjoy the collective benefits and services of the state.” According to the report, “without stable governance, political spoilers may rise to fill the governance vacuum and usurp state resources [which] can destabilize the state and motivate a return to violence.”


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Military, NGOs, Publications, US foreign policy | Comment »

New GAO Report on Democratic Assistance

September 29th, 2009 by Jason

A newly released GAO report concludes that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Labor and Human Rights (State DRL) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) must increase information-sharing and improve coordination in order to efficiently pursue the “important objective” of democracy promotion.

The report seeks to accomplish three goals. First, it depicts democracy assistance funding from USAID, State DRL and the NED. The report finds $2.25 billion in democracy assistance was given in FY2008. Taking a sample of 10 representative countries, the average country received the vast majority of their annual assistance from USAID, with the average USAID project costing $2 million.  In addition, the report breaks down Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD) aid in FY2008 by subset, with Good Governance (34%) receiving the most, Political Competition and Consensus (13%) receiving the least, and the Rule of Law and Human Rights (27%) and Civil Society (26%) in the middle.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Publications, Reform, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »