After the Cold War, game-changing elections in several former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries seeking membership in the European Union were encouraged and celebrated by North Atlantic leaders. In the West, these elections were applauded as signs of the democratic will of the people but equally of the triumph of liberal ideals, Western military power, global capitalism, and a new more peaceful world order. There were inspirational examples elsewhere as well: the election of former political prisoner Nelson Mandela in post-apartheid South Africa springs to mind. As newsworthy, photogenic events marked by ceremony, celebrity, choreography, and – sometimes – a suspenseful crescendo and unpredictable denouement, breakthrough multiparty elections sparked ‘big bang’ theories about seamless political transitions from authoritarianism to democracy. In those exuberant years, it seemed obvious that the global hegemon, the NATO alliance, world centers of finance, and voters freed from the yoke of dictatorship all benefited from the ballot-box elixir. Elected leaders of advanced democracies instinctively prefer dealing with democratically elected governments, optimists reasoned, and would therefore extend moral support, technical assistance, and various incentives for one-party regimes to hold competitive electoral campaigns and peacefully yield power at the behest of voters. This vision is the poster child of ‘democracy promotion.’