How Poland Promotes Democracy

Issue Date April 2012
Volume 23
Issue 2
Page Numbers 133-147
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This article examines the democracy-promotion efforts of Poland, a new EU member and a regional leader in the postcommunist world. Polish democracy promotion has its origin in the international solidarity tradition of the country’s anticommunist opposition movement. Poland has made concerted, if at times inconsistent, efforts to support the democratization of its eastern neighbors, primarily as part of a geopolitical security strategy to deter a resurgent Russia. While Polish efforts have helped to secure some democratization gains in Ukraine, they have had less success in autocratic Belarus.

About the Author

Tsveta Petrova is a fellow at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute. She was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in 2012. She is the author of “Citizen Participation in Local Governance in the Post-Communist Space,” which appeared in the June 2011 issue of the journal Europe-Asia Studies.

View all work by Tsveta Petrova