Western Policy in the Middle East: Can Democracy Be Coerced?
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Operation Iraqi Freedom was surrounded by a fierce debate about the possibility of imposing democracy from outside. Katerina Dalacoura, a lecturer in international relations at the London School of Economics, argues that policies of engagement -- maintaining diplomatic and trade relations; raising human rights issues in a discreet, albeit consistent, manner -- were on balance more effective in achieving human rights reforms in their target countries than policies of coercion. Drawing on the experiences of Turkey, Iran and Egypt in the 1990s, Dalacoura will discuss the inability of Western states to make the critical difference in the domestic politics of the countries in question, despite their overwhelming power in the international system. Copies of her newly released work, Engagement or Coercion? Weighing Western Human Rights Towards Turkey, Iran and Egypt, will be available for purchase and signing.
