Paper abstract:

Since 2002 the United States has been one of the main contributors to democracy promotion in the region according to the amount of Official Development Assistance grants provided to Central Asia (Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022). Despite regular development financial flows and US commitment to promoting democracy, all 5 Central Asian countries are not free according to Freedom in the World Index in 2021. Even Kyrgyzstan, which is considered to be the democratic island of the CA region, lost its position of being partly free from 2020.

This paper attempts to examine the role of US ODA in promoting democracy by responding to the following two questions: To what extent has US democracy promotion in Central Asia been successful, and why? Evaluation of democracy promotion in Central Asia will be undertaken through an analysis of facilitating and impeding factors. Acknowledging the fact that a wide range of factors affects external democracy promotion and its impact is sensitive to changes in international, regional and domestic conditions. Considering that the relevant contextual conditions affect the design, implementation and outcomes of external democracy promotion case study approach will be employed which provides a highly contextual solution to examining external democracy promotion. Kyrgyzstan is chosen for the case study to be the major recipient of US ODA and the only partly free country until 2020. Analytical findings can be used in (re)considering the aid effectiveness approach at the country and regional levels.