The politics of democratisation in the European Union and the case of Cuba.

Authors

  • FERNANDO CRIADO ALONSO

Keywords:

European Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Democratisation, Cuba.

Abstract

This paper examines the main elements of the democratization policy of the European Union and analyses how this policy has been implemented in Cuba since 1996. The paper applies an analytical framework that links the two variables that Levitsky and Way have developed to study the international dimension of regime change: linkage and leverage to the West. The hypothesis put forward is the following: The combination of unanimity and the lack of common will to act before the process of democratization has started, holds back the development of a more active European policy with Cuba. In addition, the democratization policy of the EU is designed more as a policy of democratic consolidation than as a policy of regime change or transition.

Published

2009-01-07