US Promotion of Democracy Abroad
Instructor: Mark G Pomar
This course covers the basic principles, tools, and policies of US democracy promotion after World War II by examining their formulation and implementation overseas.
The primary focus will be on US policies toward the Soviet Union/Russian Federation and Central and Eastern Europe. We will examine how the US supported indigenous democracy movements that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the emergence of freely elected governments in the former East bloc in the 1990s. We will also examine the retrenchment of democracy in the 2000s, as governments in the former East bloc chipped away at the democratic institutions. Of central importance will be an analysis of the effect of US democracy programs on the development of democracy in the former communist countries. The primary focus will be on Russia and Ukraine, but we will also examine Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and the Middle East..
The course will conclude with an examination of the prospects for revitalizing democracy promotion in the Biden-Harris administration.
Course requirements: (a) class participation; (b) weekly short response papers; (c) policy paper; (d) research paper
Week 1. Overview and aims of the course
Week 2. Concepts of democracy and US foreign policy
President Roosevelts Speech – “The Four Freedoms” (January 6, 1941) http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/fdr-the-four-freedoms-speech-text
Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, “The Enduring Significance of the Truman Doctrine,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, 2017, pp. 561 – 574. [on Canvas]
President Reagan's Address to British Parliament, June 8, 1982 (on YouTube)
Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (1999), pp. 1- 23.
Samuel Huntington, “Will More Countries Become Democratic,” (2016) (on Canvas)
Week 3. Concepts of democracy – US foreign policy and international agreements
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Michael Cotey Morgan, The Final Act: The Helsinki Accords and the Transformation of the Cold War: “The Closed Society and its Enemies,” pp. 169 – 206.
Lincoln Mitchell, Democracy Promotion Paradox, Introduction (on Canvas)
Oz Hassan & Jason Ralph, Democracy promotion and human rights in US foreign policy
Pages 509-519 | Published online: 15 Apr 2011
Week 4. Democracy promotion
Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad, 3-65.
Thomas Carothers, Critical Mission: Essays on Democracy Promotion, pp. 23-51;
Michael McFaul, “Democracy and American National Interests, “ in Advancing Democracy Abroad, 25 – 122.
Stephen D. Krasner, “Learning to Live with Despots: The Limits of Democracy Promotion,” in Foreign Affairs (March/April 2020), 49-55.
H.R. 3307 101st Congress: Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989
S.2532 — 102nd Congress: Freedom Support Act (1991-1992)
Week 5. Role of international broadcasting (VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting) in democracy promotion
Arch Puddington, Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, pp. 1- 32; 253 – 306.
Mark G Pomar, Cold War Radio, Chapters 1 and 2 (book manuscript)
Week 6. The Implementers: Role of the National Endowment for Democracy, International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the Soros Open Society Institute; For-Profit Consulting Companies; US private foundations and NGOs
Thomas Carothers, “The Question of Strategy,” in Aiding Democracy Abroad, 85-122.
Week 7. Target 1: Government institutions (electoral systems, political parties, judiciary, constitutions, legislatures)
Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad, 123 - 206
Week 8. Target 2: Private Sector – democracy through capitalism
Final Report: Enterprise Funds and Legacy Foundations (posted on Canvas)
Week 9. Target 3: Communications - independent indigenous media; civil society; Internet access; social media
Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad, 207 – 251.
Week 10. Case Study 1: Russia – 1990s - 2020
Konstantin, Pobedonostsev, “The Falsehood of Democracy,” in Readings in Russian Civilization, Volume 2, Thomas Riha, ed. Pp. 390 - 402
Michael McFaul, From the Cold War to Hot Peace (2018), 22-75.
Lincoln A. Mitchell, The Color Revolutions (2012), pp. 92 – 114.
Week 11. Case Study 2: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Lincoln A. Mitchell, The Color Revolutions (2012), pp. 2 – 92; 115 – 140
Week 12. Case Study 3: Afghanistan and the Middle East/Arab Spring
Michael McFaul, “Is More Democratization Good for the US?” in Advancing Democracy Abroad, 124- 145.
Thomas Carothers, Critical Mission, pp. 63- 80.
Erdoan A. Shipoli, Islam, Securitization, and US Foreign Policy, Palgrave, 2018, PP. 259-321 [on Canvas]
Week 13. Note-taking: What has worked well? What has been a failure? And why?
Thomas Carothers, “On the Ground,” in Aiding Democracy Abroad, 255- 327.
Emiliano Alessandri, Oz Hassan, Ted Reinert, U.S. Democracy Promotion from Bush to Obama (on Canvas)
Lincoln Mitchell, The Color Revolutions, pp.141 – 210.
[Student presentations]
Week 14. Conclusion – Should democracy promotion be a part of US foreign policy? And if so, how and why?
Thomas Carothers, “The Learning Curve,” in Aiding Democracy Abroad, 331-352.
Thomas Carothers and Frances Brown, “The Chastened Power” (https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/the-chastened-power/)
[Student presentations]
Background Readings:
Nicholas J. Cull, The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989 (Cambridge, 2008)
Nicholas J. Cull, Public Diplomacy: Foundations for Global Engagement in the Digital Age (Polity, 2019).
Note about instructor
Mark Pomar has over 35 years of senior-level experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating democracy promotion programming. From 1982 to 1994, Pomar held positions in international broadcasting, including as director of the USSR Division of the Voice of America and the Executive Director of the Board for International Broadcasting, overseeing Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. From 1994 to 2008, he was an executive at a major non-governmental organization, first as Chief of Party of a USAID-funded program in media development in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and later as President and CEO of IREX. From 2008 to 2017, he was President of the US Russia Foundation, the legacy organization of the US Russia Enterprise Fund, set up to strengthen democratic institutions in Russia through capitalism, entrepreneurship, and the rule of law. Earlier in his career, Pomar taught Russian studies at the University of Vermont. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a PhD from Columbia University.