Executive Summary: Countering Democratic Regression in Europe and Eurasia
Findings from an October 16, 2009 conference at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
Organizers: Adrian A. Basora and Mitchell A. Orenstein
Conference Co-Sponsors
* Foreign Policy Research Institute
* S. Richard Hirsch Chair of European Studies (JHU SAIS)
* German Marshall Fund of the United States
* Center for Transatlantic Relations (JHU SAIS)
* The George Washington University (IERES)
November 2009
Executive Summary
Contrary to the early euphoria and very real progress towards democratization during the 1990s in most of postcommunist Europe and Eurasia, democracy is now on the defensive throughout much of the region. The geographic area comprising the twenty-nine countries that emerged from Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the formerly communist Balkan countries is significantly less democratic, less secure, and less aligned with the West than it was at the end of the 1990s or at the start of the 2000s.
This regression should be of serious concern to both the United States (U.S.) and to the twenty-seven European Union (EU) member states. These anti-democratic trends can and should be reversed, drawing upon the lessons of the last twenty years of postcommunist transition experience. To restore lost democratic momentum, however, Washington and its allies must give higher priority to the postcommunist countries, both in terms of high-level attention and in the quantity and quality of resources devoted to supporting democracy in the region. High-level U.S. visits to the post-communist countries by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton around the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall indicated a policy opening and good will, but need to be followed up by a concerted long-term policy response.
Why does the postcommunist region merit a higher priority–despite the admittedly compelling demands posed by crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? First, for its own security, the United States cannot afford to ignore democratic backsliding in key parts of Europe. Outbursts of European instability over the past century have repeatedly proven their potential to draw the United States into armed conflict or other very costly forms of engagement. European democracy and unity are the best assurance against such negative consequences. Secondly, the United States needs a strong, stable, united and friendly Europe as a partner in managing the extraordinary global challenges that face both continents — including the ideological warfare currently being waged against Western values. Conversely, deterioration of democracy in Eastern Europe could severely damage Europe’s stability, its alignment with the U.S. and its ability to act as an effective partner on the global stage.
It would therefore be a serious mistake to ignore the recent democratic regression in Russia and several other former Soviet republics. Nor the should the stagnation and even backsliding since 2005 in countries like Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia be dismissed as issues of lower-order strategic import. Their fate is a core issue facing European security, stability and unity today — and the United States has a strong interest in the outcome.
Building on past successes, the United States should renew its commitment and strengthen its support of democracy throughout the post-communist space...
Read entire article at Foreign Policy Research Institute (conference held Oct 09)
Organizers: Adrian A. Basora and Mitchell A. Orenstein
Conference Co-Sponsors
* Foreign Policy Research Institute
* S. Richard Hirsch Chair of European Studies (JHU SAIS)
* German Marshall Fund of the United States
* Center for Transatlantic Relations (JHU SAIS)
* The George Washington University (IERES)
November 2009
Executive Summary
Contrary to the early euphoria and very real progress towards democratization during the 1990s in most of postcommunist Europe and Eurasia, democracy is now on the defensive throughout much of the region. The geographic area comprising the twenty-nine countries that emerged from Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the formerly communist Balkan countries is significantly less democratic, less secure, and less aligned with the West than it was at the end of the 1990s or at the start of the 2000s.
This regression should be of serious concern to both the United States (U.S.) and to the twenty-seven European Union (EU) member states. These anti-democratic trends can and should be reversed, drawing upon the lessons of the last twenty years of postcommunist transition experience. To restore lost democratic momentum, however, Washington and its allies must give higher priority to the postcommunist countries, both in terms of high-level attention and in the quantity and quality of resources devoted to supporting democracy in the region. High-level U.S. visits to the post-communist countries by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton around the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall indicated a policy opening and good will, but need to be followed up by a concerted long-term policy response.
Why does the postcommunist region merit a higher priority–despite the admittedly compelling demands posed by crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? First, for its own security, the United States cannot afford to ignore democratic backsliding in key parts of Europe. Outbursts of European instability over the past century have repeatedly proven their potential to draw the United States into armed conflict or other very costly forms of engagement. European democracy and unity are the best assurance against such negative consequences. Secondly, the United States needs a strong, stable, united and friendly Europe as a partner in managing the extraordinary global challenges that face both continents — including the ideological warfare currently being waged against Western values. Conversely, deterioration of democracy in Eastern Europe could severely damage Europe’s stability, its alignment with the U.S. and its ability to act as an effective partner on the global stage.
It would therefore be a serious mistake to ignore the recent democratic regression in Russia and several other former Soviet republics. Nor the should the stagnation and even backsliding since 2005 in countries like Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia be dismissed as issues of lower-order strategic import. Their fate is a core issue facing European security, stability and unity today — and the United States has a strong interest in the outcome.
Building on past successes, the United States should renew its commitment and strengthen its support of democracy throughout the post-communist space...