Number: 98-642
Title: DEMOCRACY-BUILDING IN THE NEW INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION: PROGRESS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. INTERESTS
Authors: Jim Nichol, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division 
Abstract: This report provides a discussion and analysis of democratization efforts in the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union and U.S. democracy-building assistance. It lists benchmarks of democratization and groups NIS according to their apparent democratization progress. It discusses problems of democratization in the NIS and criticism of U.S. democracy-building efforts. The prominent recent concerns of many in Congress and elsewhere with the effects of NATO enlargement on Russia's democratization are presented. The paper highlights several issues for Congress in assessing U.S. democracy-building efforts in the NIS, including the propriety of such assistance, the kinds of assistance programs to promote, criteria to use in assessing who receives assistance, and the effectiveness of democracy-building.
Pages: 44
Date: Updated July 29, 1998