1. The role of democracy and human rights adherence in NATO enlargement decisions
- Author:
- Eyal Rubinson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- What is the role that democracy and adherence to hu- man rights play in NATO enlargement decisions? Democratic conditionality, a strategy of setting clear benchmarks of liberal-democratic reforms as a pre- requisite for membership, has been a central theme in NATO history. Adherence to democracy and human rights was cited in the Washington Treaty of 1949, and more recently in the 1995 Study on NATO En- largement, the 1994 Framework Document of the “Partnership for Peace” programme, the 1999 Mem- bership Action Plan (MAP) and other fundamental texts. However, despite this repeated insistence on condi- tionality, many candidate states did not satisfactorily improve their records pre-accession, and are increas- ingly unable to meet the requirement of a function- ing democracy, according to internationally renowned indices.
- Topic:
- NATO, Human Rights, Regional Cooperation, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Europe, North Atlantic, North America, and Global Focus