Peters: Don’t Increase Democracy Aid to Egypt Now

In an opinion piece for Foreign Policy, Anne M. Peters, assistant professor of government, says that though the Obama administration has cut democracy aid during the last two years, this is decidedly not the time to increase it. “If nothing else, the past three weeks demonstrate that Egyptians do not need foreign money, consultants, or democracy and governance programs to collectively organize and exert their demands; they simply needed a pooled set of grievances, digital and print media for communication purposes, and a big push from the ‘Tunisia effect.’ ” Her piece expands on the rationale behind these points.