Democracy Promotion and Foreign Policy. Identity and Interests in US, EU and Non-Western Democracies

Democracy promotion is an established principle in US and EU foreign policies today, but how did it become so? In focusing on the promotion of democracy, this comparative study explores one of the most controversial foreign policy phenomena of our time. Drawing on a broad range of examples, from established Western models to fledgling democracies, Huber identifies the triggers and hindrances for democracy promotion and analyses the factors that have driven the United States and the European Union to include democracy promotion as an established principle into their foreign policies today. Why are democratic principles not always applied coherently, and why has democracy promotion varied so decisively over time and space? These questions prove critical in Huber's examination of three democratic promoters in their respective regions, at a time when democracy promotion first made inroads and emerged as an established foreign policy: the United States in Central and South America in the late 1970s and 1980s; the European Union in the Mediterranean neighbourhood in the 1990s and 2000s; and Turkey in the Middle East since the early 2000s. This study contributes to a more rigorous academic discussion of democracy, offering a comparative study that bridges the US-European divide.