Isobel Coleman

Democracy in Development

Coleman maps the intersections between political reform, economic growth, and U.S. policy in the developing world.

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Guest Post: Women in the Workforce in the Arab World

by Guest Blogger for Isobel Coleman
Students study in the laboratory at the Faculty of Science at the University of Misrata December 19, 2011 (Esam al-Fetori/Courtesy Reuters). Students study in the laboratory at the Faculty of Science at the University of Misrata December 19, 2011 (Esam al-Fetori/Courtesy Reuters).

Women in the Middle East stand to play a vital role in the region’s economic and political future, if given the opportunity. This week at the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Bank’s senior adviser to the chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa, Nadereh Chamlou, spoke about women’s economic empowerment in the Arab world. Today, my colleague Reza Aslan–author of books including No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations—writes about Chamlou’s remarks and the challenges to women’s participation in the workforce. Read more »

Guest Post: Entrepreneurs Innovating for Peace in Afghanistan

by Guest Blogger for Isobel Coleman
A general view of Kabul, Afghanistan, is seen during sunset, November 7, 2012 (Adnan Abidi/Courtesy Reuters). A general view of Kabul, Afghanistan, is seen during sunset, November 7, 2012 (Adnan Abidi/Courtesy Reuters).

This guest post is written by my colleague Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a fellow at CFR and deputy director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program. She tells the story of several technology entrepreneurs who are defying the odds to build successful businesses in Afghanistan. As she writes, these entrepreneurs are not only seeking profits; they are also aiming to build a more peaceful and prosperous future for their country. A post by Tae Yoo of Cisco last week on CFR’s Development Channel also highlighted technology’s role in driving development in Afghanistan. Read more »

Meeting Salafists in Tunisia

by Guest Blogger for Isobel Coleman
Tunisian Salafists put on a martial arts display at the start of a rally in the central town of Kairouan, May 20, 2012 (Anis Mili/Courtesy Reuters). Tunisian Salafists put on a martial arts display at the start of a rally in the central town of Kairouan, May 20, 2012 (Anis Mili/Courtesy Reuters).

In this guest post, my colleague Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle East Studies at CFR, writes about our discussion with Salafists in Tunisia during our visit there this week.
 Read more »

Guest Post: Putin and Russia’s Electoral Hoops

by Isobel Coleman
Workers attach a pre-election poster featuring Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the southern city of Krasnodar, November 24, 2011 (Eduard Korniyenko/Courtesy Reuters). Workers attach a pre-election poster featuring Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the southern city of Krasnodar, November 24, 2011 (Eduard Korniyenko/Courtesy Reuters).

International election observation can be an effective way to expose electoral manipulation and encourage democratic reform. But observers’ reports can be used for good as well as ill, and determined governments can also simply ignore them. Judith Kelley, an associate professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, writes here about Vladimir Putin’s handling of election monitors in advance of Russia’s presidential election on Sunday. Kelley is the author of Monitoring Democracy: When International Election Observation Works, and Why it Often Fails, forthcoming this month from Princeton University Press, and she is also featured in this week’s Economist. Read more »

Guest Post: Liberia’s Emerging Entrepreneurs

by Isobel Coleman
A view of Benson Street in Monrovia, Liberia, October 13, 2011 (Luc Gnago/Courtesy Reuters). A view of Benson Street in Monrovia, Liberia, October 13, 2011 (Luc Gnago/Courtesy Reuters).

Liberia, once a byword for conflict and misery, has become an admired young democracy. Its development challenges, however, remain dire. Liberia ranks 182 out of 187 countries in the 2011 Human Development Index; its index value is lower today than it was in 1980. The IMF puts GDP per capita at less than $300. According to a World Bank paper, 400,000 of Liberia’s 650,000 households live in poverty. Read more »

Women and Mobile: A Global Opportunity

by Isobel Coleman

Last week, I sat down with Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, to discuss how her organization is focusing on closing the mobile phone gender gap. Cherie was later joined by Maura O’Neill, senior counselor to the administrator and chief innovation officer for USAID; and Trina DasGupta, director of the GSMA mWomen Programme in a meeting that we hosted as part of the CFR-ExxonMobil Women and Technology Roundtable Series. I’ve invited Cherie, Trina, and Maura to explain in a guest blog post how they are working together to implement the mWomen Programme to increase women’s access to cell phones. Read more »

Missing Pieces: New Weekly Feature

by Isobel Coleman

Egyptians chant slogans against the government and military rulers after Friday prayers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, July 15, 2011 (Amr Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters).

This post marks the launch of a new feature on Democracy in Development, Missing Pieces. Each Friday Charles Landow, associate director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, will highlight several noteworthy or intriguing events and articles that you may have missed during the week. Each entry will include a principal link, context or commentary, and related materials. I hope you enjoy the selection, and I look forward to your comments and contributions on the topics Charley selects. Enjoy!

Business Development for Democracy

by Isobel Coleman

A woman looks at clothes at a stall during the 2nd Asian Women Entrepreneurs Eid Festival 2005 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 10, 2005 (Rafiquar Rahman/Courtesy Reuters).

The role of a vibrant business community in promoting both economic development and durable democracy is widely acknowledged. But it is less clear how to foster a private sector that can serve as an engine of growth and participate constructively in the democratic process. The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) works on just this question. One of the four “core grantees” of the National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE aims “to strengthen democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market-oriented reform.” The organization helps business associations and other private actors in developing countries with such challenges as improving laws and regulations, bolstering corporate governance, boosting entrepreneurship, and combating corruption. In addition, CIPE works to educate government officials, businesspeople, the media, and the public about “the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities essential to market-oriented democracies.”

Last week my colleague Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, deputy director of CFR’s Women and Foreign Policy Program, spoke at a conference hosted by CIPE in Washington. Here is Gayle’s readout of the conference and the trends in women’s entrepreneurship, a subject that is also the focus of her book, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.

When it comes to entrepreneurship and the power of economics to change lives, women face both promising opportunities and daunting barriers. Both were in focus at a conference hosted last week by the Center for International Private Enterprise entitled, Democracy that Delivers for Women. Read more »

The Economic Approach to Middle East Democracy

by Isobel Coleman
 

A vendor sells pulp and peanuts near Tahrir Square in the center of Cairo March 2, 2011. The souvenirs on the side of the cart display the date of the start of the Egyptian protests. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters)

There is considerable concern about the political transitions ongoing in Egypt and Tunisia—rightly so given the many obstacles to building a stable democracy. In this guest post, my colleague Charles Landow, associate director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, takes a look at this process from an economic angle.

As Egypt and Tunisia navigate the perilous path out of autocracy, what can help make them enduring democracies? History suggests that one answer is economic development.

Empirical work by scholars shows that wealthier countries are more likely to sustain democracy than poorer ones. In a groundbreaking 1997 study and later work, political scientist Adam Przeworski of NYU and colleagues found that no democracy with a per-capita income higher than $6,055 in 1985 dollars had ever collapsed into autocracy. And even under this level, more income was associated with longer-lasting democracy. In their sample of 135 countries, the authors found that a per-capita income under $1,000 gave a democracy a one-in-eight chance of collapse in a given year. A per-capita income of $1,001-$2,000 lowered the chance to less than one-in-seventeen. And so on. Read more »