A review of Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992–2002, edited by Robert G. Herman and Theodore J. Piccone.
About the Author
Thomas O. Melia is deputy director of Freedom House and consulting editor for the World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
The alleged tradeoff between economic development and political democracy-building is more fiction than fact. Indeed, progress toward fuller democratic governance can in fact enhance development.
Having drawn lessons from the downfall of some of his fellow autocrats, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is preventing the emergence of an effective democratic movement in Belarus.
