"Defending Democracy" Report Released

The Open Society Institute's Democracy Coalition Project released today a report, "Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992-2002," that it described as the "first-ever survey assessing how democratic governments pursue a democratic foreign policy."

The report grades 40 countries on how well they honor their pledges to promote and protect democracy abroad. It concluded that in terms of promotion, most of the countries showed significant improvement over the years. In terms of protecting democracy, however, the countries often continue to base their decisions on national self-interest—which means that anti-democratic incidents such as Gen. Pervez Musharaff's coup in Pakistan are not automatically condemned and are sometimes even condoned.

More information about the report, including an executive summary and selected country-specific reports, may be found on the Democracy Coalition Project's website at http://www.demcoalition.org/html/whats.html.

About the Democracy Coalition Project

The Democracy Coalition Project, an initiative of the Open Society Institute, seeks to support coalitions of civil society actors around the world who are engaged in democracy-building in their respective countries and at the international level. Working with leading organizations and individuals in the democracy movements of selected countries, the Project supports efforts to inform and influence public debate on issues critical to strengthening more democratic processes and outcomes. For more information, visit the Project's website at www.demcoalition.org.