Selective Wilsonianism: Material Interests and the West's Support for Democracy

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Published: Spring 2020

File - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, The "Heavenly Hundred" is what Ukrainians in Kiev call those who died during months of anti-government protests in 2013-14. The grisliest day was a year ago Friday _ on Feb. 20, 2014 _ when sniper fire tore through crowds on the capital's main square, killing more than 50 people. A year later, so much has changed. Russia has annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine has a new president and government, and the country is embroiled in a war in the east with Russia-backed separatists that has killed over 5,600 people and forced a million to flee.

Summary

When a mass movement broke out in 2013 against Ukraine’s corrupt government, the United States and its West European allies offered assistance to the protesters. When a mass movement rocked Armenia five years earlier, the West’s attitude ranged from indifference to hostility. What explains the West’s different responses? Whereas the Ukrainian movement was intensely hostile toward Russia, the Armenian movement was not. Contrary to the popular Wilsonian narrative, the West assists democratic movements only when that assistance coincides with its material interests.

Recommended citation

Arman Grigoryan, "Selective Wilsonianism: Material Interests and the West's Support for Democracy," International Security, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Spring 2020), pp. 158-200.