Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Shelley McConnell will speak at Cornell University on Wednesday, April 15, on "The Collective Protection of Democracy or Old-Fashioned Interventionism? Lessons from Nicaragua." Her talk will focus on the use of the Inter-American Democratic Charter to frame an international response to Nicaragua's constitutional crisis in 2005.
McConnell's research suggests that the key role of the Organization of American States in mediating the conflict marks a shift from previous eras in which the United States intervened unilaterally. Nonetheless, the charter is unlikely to help in countries lacking Nicaragua's extreme dependency and has been unable to prevent or redress the electoral fraud perpetrated in Nicaragua in 2008.
McConnell's research suggests that the key role of the Organization of American States in mediating the conflict marks a shift from previous eras in which the United States intervened unilaterally. Nonetheless, the charter is unlikely to help in countries lacking Nicaragua's extreme dependency and has been unable to prevent or redress the electoral fraud perpetrated in Nicaragua in 2008.
