Death by Powerpoint

Dan Drezner makes the argument that supporting civil society is not the key to promote democracy, particularly in the Arab world.

I disagree. Supporting civil society and teaching them how to organize democratic oppositions has been a key component in our successful democratic "revolutions". There have always been allegations of poorly spent funds and these groups being mistrusted by the average citizen. In the end, the benefits have outweighed the costs for the NGO's and political parties accepting our support. Even if it's not the "silver bullet", it would be hard to argue that we spend too much on strengthening institutions and pro-democracy groups around the world. And it's still a lot cheaper than invading and violently overthrowing the dictatorship.

However, I'd have to agree with the comment:

Organizations that received western funding became too wrapped up in pleasing their donors with monthly reports and snazzy conferences...

When we pass along the best of our institutions, we occasionally pass along the worst, and that includes monthly reviews and Powerpoint presentations. These NGO's have to be held accountable for the money we give them, but we occasionally kill their "street cred" with our bureaucracy.