On 1 March 2011, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institute für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) organised a conference on “Democracy in Retreat? Do Russia and China promote autocracy in their neighbourhoods?” The conference concluded the 3-year research project, analysing the political impact of three emerging powers – China, India and Russia – on their neighbouring states.

The conference drew attention from the practitioners of democracy promotion in both governmental and non-governmental organisations to the project’s main findings. The highlighted influences of the major emerging powers China and Russia contributed to a fruitful discussion on their implication upon democracy promotion work. At the outset, the theoretical-conceptual framework of the project was introduced and discussed against the background of the academic debate on stability of authoritarian regimes. Presentations of empirical findings pointed out that both China’s support for autocratic neighbours and Russia’s role in holding up western-oriented democratization have tangible effects on the governance of neighbouring states.

The concluding session featured practitioners of democracy promotion. The dialogue focussed on the question of how international democracy promotion and development assistance in China, Russia and their neighbouring states should be adjusted to the new framework conditions.