SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

Name:

Mr Benjamin Schuetze

Email address:

benjamin_schuetze@soas.ac.uk

Thesis title:

Unforeseen and Contradictory Consequences of US and European Democracy Promotion in Jordan

Year of Study:

2

Internal Supervisors

• Laleh Khalili
• Charles R H Tripp

PhD Research

Despite the lack of substantial political liberalisation, Jordan has by many US and European politicians for decades been described as a success story of Western democracy promotion in the Middle East. Differentiating between approaches to democracy promotion via institutional engineering, political economy and the securitisation of democracy, I investigate in my thesis unforeseen and contradictory consequences of US and European democracy promotion in Jordan. During my field research in Jordan, Europe and the USA, I aim to analyse elements of depoliticisation, technocratisation and functionalism, in order to show how very different discourses of democracy promotion interact in creating a remarkably self-confirming and self-perpetuating narrative. I argue that on the basis of widely unquestioned claims to moral superiority such a narrative of democracy promotion serves as an extremely powerful and efficient overarching rationale for US and European politics vis-à-vis Jordan.

PhD Affiliations

• London Middle East Institute (LMEI) - UK
• Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient (DAVO) - Germany
• Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) - Jordan