Not only bilateral aid programs, but the international financial institutions are also viewed as channels for pressing for political reform. The study takes a closer look at the logic of conditionality and the historical record and proposes future directions for its effective uses. A resurgence of nationalism appears to threaten the process of democratization in a number of countries. This poses a challenge for the United States as it seeks to promote democracy but risks increasing ethnic conflict. This essay examines the roots of the perverse relationship between nationalism and democratization in some Eastern European and African countries and identifies policy choices that can heighten or lessen ethnic and national conflict in countries intransition from authoritarian rule.
Contributors consider the relationship between economic planning and the likely political realities.
All three Giants are opening up their economies to foreign trade, technology, and investment. Within individual countries, these reform trends are everywhere strongly contested and in some cases, in danger of being reversed. Governments must balance pressures from external agencies seeking more rapid economic adjustment in return for financial supportand the demands of domestic interest groups opposing such reforms. With the end of the Cold War, aid donors and recipients are increasingly entering into discussions that include military expenditures in the context of overall government spending. Making economic aid contingent upon military reforms is one tool that can be used to promote change.