National Academy of Sciences Honor Political Science's Robert Jervis

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Please join us for a conference “Debating Democratization in the Middle East”

What does Hamas’ recent victory in the Palestinian elections, as well as recent developments in Iran, Iraq and Egypt tell us about the wisdom of the US democracy promotion strategy in that region and how these developments support or contradict assumptions about how expanding democracy brings peace, stability and benefits the US.  Please join the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at a panel discussion with scholars and practitioners discussing these questions.  The conference will be on March 8th from 9:30-Noon in IAB 1512 at Columbia

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The Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies has hired Lincoln Mitchell as professor in the practice of international politics

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On October, 28, 2005 the Saltzman Institute hosted a forum “PROMOTING DEMOCRACY: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN A COMPLEX WORLD” .  See below for highlights or to access the entire text.


Madeleine Albright

In the words of President Bush, we have, and I quote, "a calling from beyond the stars, to proclaim liberty throughout the world, to all the inhabitants thereof." I see the job of building democracy as more of a down to Earth proposition.  In my experience, democratic progress results less from grand proclamations, than from a million acts of quiet courage.  The unwillingness to be silent.  The determination to print the truth.  The decision to organize.  The refusal to be co opted.  The strength to resist intimidation.  And the willingness to try, again and again, in the face of nightsticks and steel bars, propaganda and lies.  Slowly, the barriers that cannot be pushed aside are worn away, and the day of victory comes, and the forces of freedom sweep into office amidst a chorus of Hallelujahs.
 
Full text of Madeleine Albright's speech "Promoting Democracy in the 21st Century"


Gayle Smith

“Look at what impact economic development has on the democratization process.  If you looked at Latin America, for example, right now where there has been a failure to adequately address in many countries rampant poverty in the rural areas, polling indicates that the credibility of democracy is slowly being undermined.  People are saying, ‘What is the point of democracy if I’ve seen no change in my life?…I think we need democratic institutions to sustain economic development, but I think without broad-based economic development we risk over time, democracy losing gradually its credibility.”

Full transcript of panel discussion "Democratization and Sustainable Development"

Jack Snyder

President Bush says that America is safest when democracy is on the march and that there is no country in the world that’s not ready for democracy.  President Clinton noted that no two democracies had ever fought a war against each other and concluded that therefore, to promote peace, one should promote democratization.  This is true for mature democracies, but the problem is getting from where we are now to the promised land, where we have a world full of mature, stable, advanced democracies…The problem is that countries that are just starting to democratize with weak political institutions are more likely to get into wars, both international wars and civil wars. 
 
Full transcript of panel discussion "Democratization, Peace and War"

J. Scott Carpenter

That means all of our programs, all of our bilateral assistance, all of our economic leveraging tools, whether they are free trade agreements or, bilateral aid packages, have to reinforce this central tenet, that we would like to see more open, productive countries in the region that are better able to respond to their people, and create the jobs and opportunities necessary to keep people from despair.  So we are in the process of doing that, and I think that’s going to have long range, implications for what we need to do, and that’s internally.
 
Link for full transcript of panel discussion "Democratization, Values and Rights"