Summary: Whether you are an NGO active on human rights at local or regional level, wandering through the complex maze of EU and its obscure machinery, this guide is designed as an excellent tool that will navigate you through the latest developments in the EU sphere and is jam-packed with useful tips to help you make the changes that really matter to you. Written in clear and simple language, our guide brings to you every EU tool available, and helps you spot the most appropriate actors for the type of action you are planning to take. This guide comes with a toolkit that provides you with a compilation of good practices showcasing how other NGOs have achieved the desired impact. This manual lists the challenges commonly faced by local NGOs face, often feeling alienated from decision-making processes. Our guide offers valuable tips on how to make optimal use of the EU missions in their respective countries.
.Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
IAI Working Papers 1301
Cecilia Emma Sottilotta
January 2013
Summary: History abounds with instances in which Western countries have pursued policies supporting authoritarian regimes, while lukewarmly investing in democracy promotion. The EU and US attitudes vis-à-vis the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region has followed this pattern. By looking at political discourse and practice, this paper explores the conceptual loopholes into which Western policymakers have often fallen when choosing stability over democracy in the southern Mediterranean region. This paper focuses on US and EU attitudes towards MENA countries before and after the start of the Arab Spring with the goal of reappraising mainstream approaches to political stability amongst both governmental and non-governmental actors.
Political Stability in Authoritarian Regimes
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Առաջիկա նախագահական ընտրությունների վերաբերյալ հարցազրույց Տարածաշրջանային հետազոտությունների կենտրոնի տնօրեն Ռիչարդ Գիրագոսյանի հետ:
http://168.am/2013/01/11/162450.html
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«Այս ընտրությունների հետ կապված` կա մի շատ կարևոր ասպեկտ. այն մրցակցային չէ, Սարգսյանը կվերընտրվի, սակայն թեկնածուների միջև մրցակցության պակասը նշանակում է, որ ընտրական գործընթացն ինքնին պետք է ավելի ազատ և արդար լինի»,- մեր թղթակցի հետ զրույցում ասել է Տարածաշրջանային հետազոտությունների կենտրոնի տնօրեն Ռիչարդ Կիրակոսյանը:
http://168.am/2013/01/10/162383.html
.The Wilson Quarterly
Larry Diamond
Winter 2013
Summary: One after another, arguments that non-Western countries are not “ready” for democracy have been upended by experience. When Arab societies rose up and toppled four dictators during 2011—in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya—people around the world joined in the celebration. Yet soon after the autocrats’ fall, a wave of apprehension washed over many in the policy and intellectual elite in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East itself. The warnings and reservations were variations on a theme: Arabs are not ready for democracy. They have no experience with it and don’t know how to make it work. Islam is inclined toward violence, intolerance, and authoritarian values. People will vote radical and Islamist parties into power, and the regimes that ultimately emerge will be theocracies or autocracies, not democracies.
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