Presentation by Thomas Carothers on "Aid for Democracy: Lessons of Comparative Experience" (LLA)

7 March 2003

On 5 March the Lessons Learned and Analysis Unit (LLA) of the EU Pillar organised a presentation by Thomas Carothers on "Aid for Democracy: Lessons of Comparative Experience". The presentation in the auditorium of the UNMIK Headquarters was chaired by Andy Bearpark, DSRSG and head of the EU Pillar.

The fall of authoritarian regimes in Europe, Asia and Latin America in the past two decades has led to an impressive growth of governmental, quasi-governmental and non-governmental organisations devoted to promoting democracy abroad. Democracy assistance became an integral part of international efforts aiming at political change around the world. In that tradition, UNMIK and the international community in Kosovo are working on the assumption that democracy can be promoted, strengthened and assisted through outside interventions.

Thomas Carothers is a leading authority on democracy promotion and democratisation worldwide. He has researched and successfully challenged the role of international democracy assistance in transition countries around the globe. He is currently with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, where he is Senior Associate and founding Director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Project.

Please click here to see photos of this presentation.