Obama’s Democracy Promotion Options

At Democracy Digest, Michael Allen surveys extant theories of democracy promotion available to the incoming administration. On development aid, for example, he cites analysts who suggest that the U.S. should expect poorer countries to make a stronger commitment to democracy and human rights reform in exchange for more U.S. humanitarian and security aid.

A post at Babylon and Beyond notes that while Barack Obama‘s election has emboldened Middle East reformers and activists, the imperatives of energy security and peace with Israel will present him with the same constraints and trade-offs that George W. Bush faced.