Abstract: This book assesses European Union (EU) policies aimed at encouraging democratization in East Asia and the North African and Middle Eastern states within the Euro–Mediterranean partnership—these two regions being the source of some of the strongest conceptual challenges to ‘Western’ liberal democracy since the end of the cold war. The book addresses theoretical debates over the international dimensions of democratization and the EU's characteristics as an international actor, including in relation to the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The factors both driving and inhibiting European democracy promotion policies are explored. The book outlines the EU's distinctive bottom-up philosophy, aimed at constructing the socio–economic and ideational foundations for political liberalization, but argues that the EU has, in practice, failed to develop a fully comprehensive and coherent democracy promotion strategy.

Keywords: Common Foreign and Security Policy, democracy promotion, democratization, East Asia, Euro–Mediterranean partnership, European Union, liberal democracy, Middle East, North Africa, political liberalization