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On Defense, France Bites the Bullet, But Avoids Strategic Insolvency May 7, 2013

Iceland’s Recovery Saga Presents Opportunities for Brussels, Washington—and Beijing May 6, 2013

Which Way Forward for Europe’s Hybrid Regimes? May 2, 2013

The Arab Revolts and the Liberal Order May 2, 2013

Events
Andrew Light Speaker Tour in Europe May 14, 2013 / Berlin, Germany; Brussels, Belgium

GMF Senior Fellow Andrew Light participated in a speaking tour in Europe to discuss opportunities for transatlantic cooperation on climate and energy policy in the second Obama administration.

Audio
Deal Between Kosovo, Serbia is a European Solution to a European Problem May 13, 2013

In this podcast, GMF Vice President of Programs Ivan Vejvoda discusses last month's historic agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Andrew Small on China’s Influence in the Middle East Peace Process May 10, 2013

Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine

Fostering a Free Azerbaijan December 29, 2010
Washington Post

Related Issues: Democracy & Civil Society
Related Regions: Asia / North America / Wider Europe
Ten years ago this month, a young American civilian working for democracy in Azerbaijan was brutally murdered in the former Soviet republic's capital. The stabbing of John Alvis raised little public attention. A decade later, his death remains a crime deemed unsolved by the FBI.

John Alvis, a 36-year-old from Texas, was the representative of the International Republican Institute in Baku. He worked closely with me, in my capacity as representative of the National Democratic Institute, to bring about democratic political reform of the autocratic government of Heydar Aliyev, a former member of the Soviet Politburo. Our close cooperation showed that Republicans and Democrats can work together toward a worthy common cause.

John's murder also tragically underlined the risks civilians take in defending and promoting democracy in countries whose dictators move quickly to discourage and, if necessary, end any such efforts.

Azerbaijan has registered no political progress in the past 10 years. John's murder came less than four weeks after a suspect election in 2000. Another terrible election took place on Nov. 7 of this year, as Ilham Aliyev, the current president, consolidated the power of his late father. Until that most recent electoral fraud, a small - and harmless - number of opposition parties had been allowed representation in parliament. Now the Azeri legislature will not have even a single member of any opposition party.

Some Western policymakers argue that political liberalization in Azerbaijan is beside the point. More critical than democracy, they say, is a reliable partner for transit routes to Afghanistan and access to Azerbaijan's oil and gas wealth. The Aliyev family depends on this long-held view and rewards its Western partners by saying plainly that Azerbaijan does not care what the United States and Europe think about its democracy and human rights record.

For full article, see the Washington Post