Thomas Carothers (born June 28, 1956) is an American lawyer and an expert on international democracy support, democratization, and U.S. foreign policy. He is senior vice president for studies at the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

, where he founded and currently directs the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance. He has also taught at several universities in the United States and Europe, including

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

, the

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

, and

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

, where he is a senior research fellow. Carothers served as the interim president of the

Early life

Carothers received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics where he was a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

and an A.B. from Harvard College. He speaks English, French, and Spanish.

Career

Carothers worked at the law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. Before that, he was an attorney-adviser at the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State from 1985 to 1988. While serving at the State Department, he worked with the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

(USAID) on democracy assistance in Latin America. This experience formed the basis for his first book, ''In the Name of Democracy: U.S. Policy Toward Latin America in the Reagan Years''. His work has focused on the areas of civil society development, political party assistance, rule of law assistance, and democratic transitions. In addition to his research and writings, Carothers has consulted for and worked directly on democracy assistance programs for both private and public aid organizations. Carothers is the author of five books on international democracy and development assistance, as well as three edited volumes and a collection of his most influential essays. He has also written numerous articles for the

Journal of Democracy The ''Journal of Democracy'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1990 and an official publication of the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies. It covers the study of democracy, democratic regimes ...

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

, and other publications. His writings have been translated into many languages.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution'' (with Diane de Gramont), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2013. * ''Confronting the Weakest Link: Aiding Political Parties in New Democracies'', Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006. * ''Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: In Search of Knowledge'' (editor), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006. * ''Uncharted Journey: Promoting Democracy in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

'' (co-edited with

Marina Ottaway Marina S. Ottaway teaches and researches at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. Her research interests include the politics of development, with particular reference to Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Before she joined the Wi ...

). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005. * ''Critical Mission: Essays on Democracy Promotion'', Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004. * ''Funding Virtue: Civil Society Aid and Democracy Promotion'' (co-edited with Marina Ottaway), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000. * ''Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve'', Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999. * ''Assessing Democracy Assistance: The Case of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

'', Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1996. * ''In the Name of Democracy: U.S. Policy Toward

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

in the

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Years'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1993.

Selected essays

Democracy Aid at 25: Time to Choose

, vol. 26, no. 1, January 2015.
Accountability, Transparency, Participation, and Inclusion: A New Development Consensus?
(with Saskia Brechenmacher), Carnegie Paper, October 2014.
Closing Space: Democracy and Human Rights Support Under Fire
(with Saskia Brechenmacher), Carnegie Report, February 2014.
Democracy Policy Under Obama: Revitalization or Retreat?
Carnegie Report, January 2012.
Aiding Governance in Developing Countries: Progress Amid Uncertainties
(with Diane de Gramont), Carnegie Paper, November 2011.
Looking for Help: Will Rising Democracies Become International Democracy Supporters?
(with

Richard Youngs Richard Youngs is an English musician based in Glasgow since the early 1990s. His catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with ''Advent'', first issued in 1990. He plays many instruments, most commonly choosing the guitar, but ...

), Carnegie Paper, July 2011.
Think Again: Arab Democracy

, March 10, 2011.
The Elusive Synthesis
Journal of Democracy, vol. 21, no 4, October 2010.
Revitalizing Democracy Assistance: The Challenge of USAID
Carnegie Report, October 2009.
Stepping Back From Democratic Pessimism
Carnegie Paper no. 99, February 2009.
Democracy Assistance: Political vs. Developmental
Journal of Democracy, vol. 20, no 1, January 2009.
The Sequencing Fallacy
Journal of Democracy, vol. 18, no 1, January 2007.
The Backlash Against Democracy Promotion

, March/April 2006.
The End of the Transition Paradigm
Journal of Democracy, vol. 13, no 1, January 2002.

References

External links

* Official Biography at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peac

* Website of the Carnegie Democracy and Rule of Law Progra

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carothers, Thomas American political scientists American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers Harvard College alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Living people 1956 births Marshall Scholars Harvard Law School alumni Arnold & Porter people