Democracy in the News Week 5 – Georgia
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Obama-Praises-Georgia-as-Model-of-Democracy-138359529.html
This article is basically a fluff piece which covers President Obama giving Georgia a pat on the back for its democratic reforms. Essentially the country has engaged in many anti-corruption programs, and a policy of ‘institution building’ designed to increase the ‘democraticness’ of domestic politics. The 2003 Rose Revolution was enormously important for the establishment of a procedural minimum of democracy, but beyond that, some reforms apparently needed to be made.
What is particularly interesting are the benchmarks which the USA has set for Georgia to increase its democraticness. This is apparently the American definition of what democracy entails:
“”The importance of making sure that minorities are respected, the importance of a police and system of rule of law that is being observed”
Georgians have commented that US support in these efforts were crucial. This brings me back to my post on self interested democratization. There are ulterior motives other than humanitarian ones at play here.
“Mr. Obama also thanked Georgia for its contributions to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. And he said cooperation going forward will include a high-level dialogue to strengthen trade relations, including the possibility of a free trade agreement.”