Read more
Brussels made democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and good governance its top co-operation priorities in the EU Strategy Framework towards Central Asia for 2007-2013. This book examines two interrelated questions: To what extent has EU democracy promotion in Central Asia been successful? And, to the extent that it was successful, why was it so?
The book presents a comprehensive analytical framework for the evaluation of democracy promotion, including factors which may facilitate or hinder democratic development in Central Asia. It demonstrates the validity of a holistic approach to analyzing impediments of democracy promotion meaning that external pro-democratic support is affected by a variety of diverse factors whose impact can vary as international, regional, and domestic conditions change.
The stable and rich authoritarian state of Kazakhstan is different from the much poorer Kyrgyzstan-a state prone to political instability, but also to democratic openings. By contrasting the success of democracy promotion in these two countries which have different strategic importance for the EU, this study provides valuable insights into how non-normative interests interfere with normatively driven policies.
About the author
The author: Dr. Aijan Sharshenova studied political science and international relations at the Centre International de Formation Européenne and the Institut für Europäische Politik at Berlin, and University of Leeds, UK. She has worked for the Middle East and North Africa Office of the International Peace Institute at Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as in democracy and development assistance projects in Kyrgyzstan. The author of the foreword: Dr. Gordon Crawford is a Research Professor of Global Development at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, UK.
Report
"This book provides a very timely and well-informed analysis of the effectiveness of EU democracy promotion efforts in Central Asia. It goes beyond existing accounts by offering a holistic picture of the state of affairs on the ground, accounting not only for the EU but also for local and wider regional contexts. In doing so, it acknowledges that a variety of factors affect external democracy promotion and that their impact can vary as international, regional, and domestic conditions change. Through a comparative case study of EU democracy promotion in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the book convincingly demonstrates that EU democracy promotion has not been successful in these two target countries and masterfully identifies EU-related, local, and regional factors that help to explain this."-Fabienne Bossuyt, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Ghent University, Belgium
