ABSTRACT
The international dimension of democratization or the contribution of international actors to processes of domestic political transformation is tremendously varied in scope and effect,1 but it is hard to establish causality with any degree of accuracy. First, the nature of their role depends on the particular combination of internal and external economic, social and political factors at play, the foreign actors involved, the mode of intervention or policies that are adopted, the relationship between foreign and domestic players, and on the ideological and normative climate of the times. Second, interventions of any kind, ranging from sanctions to quiet diplomacy, are fraught with pitfalls, and success often depends on the qualities of leadership and other unpredictable factors. Third, it is equally hard to say, in hindsight, which variables were fundamental catalysts for change. And finally, it is increasingly difficult to separate the domestic from the external given economic internationalization and the “transnationalization” of domestic actors (or “domestic-ization” of international actors). As Milner notes, “international politics and foreign policy become part of the domestic struggle for power and the search for internal compromise.”2
