HOW DOES UNITED STATES SECURITY ASSISTANCE AFFECT HOST NATION DEMOCRATIZATION?
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Authors
Morton, Christopher A.
Subjects
democracy
democratization
democracy promotion
Freedom House
political rights
civil liberties
foreign assistance
security assistance
security cooperation
building partner capacity
security sector assistance
security sector reform
civil-military relations
CENTCOM
Lebanon
Pakistan
democratization
democracy promotion
Freedom House
political rights
civil liberties
foreign assistance
security assistance
security cooperation
building partner capacity
security sector assistance
security sector reform
civil-military relations
CENTCOM
Lebanon
Pakistan
Advisors
Mabry, Tristan J.
Date of Issue
2018-06
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
How does U.S. security assistance affect host nation democratization? This thesis analyzes Department of State and Department of Defense assistance over time to Lebanon and Pakistan to evaluate its effects on the host nation's political rights and civil liberties, measured by Freedom House ratings. In both cases, changes in Freedom House ratings did not correlate consistently with changes in U.S. security assistance. The influence of U.S. security assistance on host nation governance is frequently over-stated. U.S. security assistance has minimal effect on democratization compared to local and regional actors, because it is designed and resourced primarily to accomplish security objectives, not to drive enduring institutional reform. If the United States wanted security assistance to decisively support democratization, then it would need to design and resource security assistance and security cooperation programs differently. Redesigning U.S. security assistance to supersede the influence of other factors on democratization would require increasing funding toward defense institution building, making security assistance conditional on political rights and civil liberties performance, and consistently integrating security assistance within a whole-of-government strategy toward the host nation for a generation or more.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.