The European Union and the promotion of democracy: Europe’s Mediterranean and Asian policies

Book abstract:

This book examines how the European Union took forward its democracy promotion commitment during the 1990s in two regions: first, the North African and Middle Eastern states included within the EU's Mediterranean policy; second, East Asia.

Organised in six chapters, chapter one examines the debates pertinent to Western governments' commitment to democracy promotion and addresses the nature of the agency, motives and strategy that have been seen as relevant to the commitment. The second chapter covers the EU's potentialities and institutional preparedness in relation to democracy promotion and highlights the principal shortcomings for the effective and co-ordinated development of democracy promotion strategies. The following four chapters deal with specific regions and the impact of EU democracy promotion policies: EU and the Mediterranean; EU and Algeria; EU and East Asia; EU and China. Each chapter provides conclusions specific to those regions. The final chapter reviews in a more general sense the analytical questions raised in the first two chapters and questions whether or not the EU has failed to develop a fully comprehensive and coherent strategy for democracy promotion.

The work will interest scholars, students and researchers in comparative politics, international relations and European studies.

Richard Youngs is Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute for International Relations and Portsmouth University.