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Democracy, Human Rights, and American Foreign Policy
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About the Project
What role should the promotion of democracy and human rights play in U.S. foreign policy? Over the last decade, human rights groups have documented a decline in freedom around the world. In some countries, such as Venezuela and Egypt, elected leaders used democracy to get into power and then abused that power; in others, such as Russia, autocrats have increased the level of repression against their opponents. The United States must weigh the importance of promoting democracy and respect for human rights, and determine what tools are most effective in doing so. How should the United States help democratic activists build stronger parties and coalitions? Can it help protect such people while they work for democracy in dangerous settings? These are issues I address in roundtables and regular writings. As Special Representative for Venezuela at the State Department in 2019 and 2020, I faced many of these issues directly. I plan to examine my experiences during those two years in the hope of elucidating how the United States can most effectively promote democracy.
Blogs
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Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy
After decades of democratic progress, human rights and the rule of law in Mexico are under siege. It would be a grave error for the United States to believe that its only interests in Mexico are trade and border security, and that Mexico's democratic stability will not affect either. On the contrary, U.S. financial, commercial, and security interests now assume a stable and cooperative Mexico that may disappear if democracy and the rule of law do so. -
The Israeli debate on judicial reform involves issues unique to that country's political system, but also raises questions that every democracy must address. What are the proper powers of courts and of elected institutions in democratic systems of government?
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Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy
In Tunisia, President Kais Saied's consolidation of power and embrace of autocratic measures threaten the lone remaining success story of the Arab Spring. The Biden Administration should move from rhetorical support for democracy in Tunisia to the use of American financial assistance to press for reforms, and should not support Tunisia’s requested IMF loan unless they are forthcoming. -
International human rights NGOs are important champions of basic human rights for people across the globe. They have great influence in civil society and government. But they are also complex organizations, subject to the biases and governance problems of large bureaucracies (and their leaders). They should be subject to careful assessment themselves.
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Should the United States be promoting democracy and human rights in friendly monarchies? Yes — human rights improvements, not regime change, should be the goal, working especially in areas where progress is pragmatically possible.
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Why did the US effort to promote democracy in Venezuela fail? The lessons learned there should inform democracy promotion efforts around the globe.
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The U.S. government spends billions to promote democracy. It could get more for its money through better internal coordination, and by relying more on NGOs and its own expertise when implementing programs, rather than hiring profit-making companies to do the work.