Suchergebnisse

This special issue expands on the existing literature on the international dimension of democratization by focusing on democracy projection, defined as the projection of (democratic) norms in the every-day practice of interactions, beyond any donor-recipient relationship, between states and foreign civil society actors on issue areas where both have interests to defend. The SI examines the issue areas of trade, anti-corruption, applied research, gender and LGBTI, focusing on EU practices in its everyday dealings with civil society in the Southern Mediterranean. The authors conclude, based on comparative case studies relying on extensive interviews, direct observations and content analysis, that democracy projection varies according to four main factors: EU's perceived interest, its ideational commitment to norms of dialogue and inclusion, the degree of institutional inertia and discourses/structures of meanings dominating in some policy areas which preclude EU engagement on substance. ; peer-reviewed

Malta became a donor country with European Union membership in 2004. Maltese organizations (most prominently—but not solely—those linked to the Catholic Church) had, however, been active in development overseas long before that date. This essay offers the first systematic, empirically grounded account of Maltese governmental and nongovernmental aid, based on official and unofficial statistical information on official development assistance levels and distribution; a database compiled by the authors covering nongovernmental Maltese development organizations; and an analysis of a sample of government- and nongovernment-funded projects. The essay analyzes the empirical material based on the dichotomy of charity-based versus humanrights-based development and examines how these two development paradigms overlap with—and differ from—the Catholic/secular divide within the Maltese aid landscape.

Democratisation has been the stated goal of many Western states' policies in the Arab world since the end of the cold war.1 This aim became something of a foreign policy mantra after the Al Qaeda attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York: this and subsequent attacks in Madrid and London led Western governments to stress democratization in Arab countries as one way of addressing the "root causes" of terrorism. The West has not applied its democratizing zeal evenly across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, however. Morocco, as one of the most liberal regimes of the region and, simultaneously, both a victim of terror and the country of origin of some terrorists ac- tive in Western Europe, has been a main target of Western democracy promotion in recent years. Whether democracy promotion – including support for civil society, political parties and independent media, assistance to the parliament and the judiciary, electoral observation missions, positive and negative conditionalities, and public praise and criticism – has had any effect has been widely debated, within and outside the region. ; peer-reviewed

Since the end of the cold war and, in particular, the Al Qaeda attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, Western governments have in their rhetoric stressed democratization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as a key policy goal. 1 The EU, the US and other Western countries have developed and extended their democracy promotion activities in the region, in particular democracy assistance to civil society, independent media, the judiciary, parliament and political parties. 2 Such assistance has at times been complemented with public criticism of perceived non-democratic behaviour and political conditionalities, i.e. making democratic reform a precondition for granting favours such as trade deals and development assistance. ; peer-reviewed