Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We Should and How We Can

By Michael McFaul

After eight years of President Bush's trumpeting the virtues of promoting freedom and democracy abroad but achieving limited results, many Americans have grown suspicious of democratic development as a goal of American foreign policy. As a new administration reviews the role democratization will play in its foreign policy, distinguished Stanford University political scientist and Hoover Institution senior fellow Michael McFaul calls for a reaffirmation of democracy's advance as a goal of U.S. foreign policy and sets out a radically new course to achieve it. In Advancing Democracy Abroad, McFaul explains how democracy provides a more accountable system of government, greater economic prosperity, and better security compared with other systems of government. He then shows how Americans have benefited from the advance of democracy abroad in the past, and speculates about security, economic, and moral benefits for the United States from potential democratic gains around the world. The final chapters explore past examples of successful democracy promotion strategies and outline proposals for effectively supporting democratic development in the future. Published in cooperation with the Hoover Institution

• Language: English
• Publisher: RowmanLittlefield
• Release date: Dec 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9781442201132

Michael McFaul

MICHAEL McFAUL is professor of political science, director and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He served for five years in the Obama administration, first at the White House as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council, then as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation. Dr. McFaul is also an analyst for NBC News and a contributing columnist to the Washington Post. He has authored or coauthored several books, including Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin. Dr. McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in international relations and Slavic languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European studies from Stanford University, then completed his D. Phil. in international relations at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

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