FES & Carnegie Europe event: "US Democracy Policy under Obama: rebalancing or retreat?"

President Barack Obama has lowered the volume and changed the tone of U.S. policy with regard to supporting democracy in the world compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush.  But is this change just rhetorical or does it reflect real policy change on the ground?  And if it does entail real change, is it a thoughtful rebalancing of the U.S. approach or a retreat away from core U.S. foreign policy values and principles?

In a discussion co-organized by Carnegie Europe and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and moderated by Carnegie's Thomas Carothers, the presidents of two leading U.S. democracy promotion organizations, Lorne Craner with the International Republican Institute and Ken Wollack of the National Democratic Institute, took up these questions. Joining the panel as commentators were European experts Arjen Berkvens, director of the Alfred-Mozer-Stichting and coordinator of the European Network of Political Foundations, and André Gerrits, professor of European studies at the University of Amsterdam.