One Size Does Not Fit All: An Analysis of US and EU Democracy Promotion in the Western Balkans

Abstract

In the post-Cold War era, with democratic peace theory on the rise, efforts to promote democracy around

the world have flourished. Western and Western democratic values-oriented states in particular have

acted on the belief that democracy promotion would contribute to world peace. Yet this process is not as

utopian as described; it is also highly contingent, with no single prescription for success nor common

idea of what the end result should look like. This study elaborates the problematic aspects of democracy

promotion by examining the case of US and EU democracy promotion in the Western Balkans. The

problems uncovered in this analysis fall into three categories: 1) those stemming from the very nature of

democracy promotion as an exercise, 2) those specific to the promoters of democracy and 3) those relating

to the particular characteristics or circumstances of the target state or region. Based on the analysis, this

study concludes that such problems will continue to arise so long as the promoters of democracy continue

to approach the process monolithically, without sensitivity to, and synchronization with, the cultural and

political realities on the ground in target states.

Keywords

• Democracy Promotion,Democratization,the United States (US),the European Union (EU)

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