Abstract
This chapter introduces the concept of Forced Democracy (FD) interventions. The first part of the chapter offers a definition of FD interventions and offers a discussion of the degree to which a desire to bring about democracy is at the heart of these actions. The second part discusses the liberal and realist traditions that underpin the FD strategy. The third part of the chapter focuses historical roots of the FD strategy in American foreign policy. The fourth part discusses the academic treatment of the FD phenomenon over the last several decades. The chapter concludes that while academic research has discovered much about the dynamics of FD interventions (the “how”), it has focused much less on the equally important question of the role that the desire to bring about democracy actually plays in American foreign policy (the “why”).
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Walker, S. (2019). A Review of the Forced Democracy Strategy. In: American Foreign Policy and Forced Regime Change Since World War II. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11232-5_1
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