Policy Paper (February 2014) By Rouba Al-Fattal Eeckelaert, visiting scholar at the Centre for European Studies
At a time when an unprecedented wave of democratization is rippling through the Arab world, it is very important to reevaluate the actors’ commitment to democracy promotion and to examine the challenges which they must overcome if they seriously want their efforts to succeed. Three of the significant questions highlighted in this policy paper are: Why is it important to rethink electoral assistance when dealing with democracy promotion policy? What instruments and approaches did the EU, the US, and Canada employ while implementing their electoral assistance policy in the PT? How effective were the actors’ policies in the democratization process of the PT and why? Addressing the actors’ policy successes and shortfalls is necessary before providing valid proposals to the policy-makers who are pioneering the democracy promotion programs in the MENA region.
