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"Dan Phillips and Gordon Streeb bring a lifetime of foreign service experience to CCEU's efforts to address the specific challenges facing new democracies," said John Hardman, M.D., executive director of The Carter Center. "Their knowledge of international diplomacy contributes significantly to the Center's projects."

Formerly ambassador to Zambia, Dr. Streeb joined the CCEU staff in March as an adviser and consultant for projects in economic development and trade. He works with the African Governance Program and with the Center's new Global Development Initiative (GDI) to help nurture the economic development of young democracies.

A country's economic health can greatly affect its chances for developing into a stable democracy. "If a nation doesn't succeed economically," Dr. Streeb said, "the pressure on its government can become too intense, and the chances that its democratization will continue are reduced."

The international community has been "reasonably successful in avoiding duplication of donor efforts," Dr. Streeb said. "What has been lacking is a sense of focus among donors." A major goal of GDI is to help recipients and donors set their priorities together.

The first real test of the GDI approach is underway in Guyana. Dr. Streeb and the University of Florida's Uma Lele, director of GDI, visited Guyana in May and met with its president, various government leaders, and local representatives of the donor community to help set common goals and further shape the Center's role. That role will include helping Guyana form a long-term development strategy and encouraging Guyanese leaders to uphold their commitment to reform.

Dr. Streeb's ties to the Center began before his appointment to CCEU. He first worked with former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter in 1991 when they helped monitor elections in Zambia while he was the U.S. ambassador there.

Now Dr. Streeb joins other colleagues at the Center, including Mr. Phillips, formerly ambassador to the Congo and Burundi, who arrived at CCEU last October. Among his first tasks was to help draft a U.S. Agency for International Development proposal on the Center's role in coordinating the involvement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Liberia, where civil war broke out in 1989. In March, Mr. Phillips began working to help Liberia organize elections scheduled for fall.

He also is working with three CCEU programs involved in the democratic transition in Ethiopia. The African Governance Program is providing technical assistance to help Ethiopians write a new constitution and prepare for elections. The Conflict Resolution Program is promoting reconciliation through its International Negotiation Network and in-country workshops. And the Human Rights Program is offering training programs for government, judiciary, and police officials in human rights protections.

"Ethiopia is a very good model that shows how The Carter Center's programs work together," Mr. Phillips said.

The diplomat also has assisted with negotiations among rival groups in Sudan and Ethiopia and collaborated with President Carter on protesting the mistreatment of prisoners in Senegal. Having worked extensively in Africa, Mr. Phillips understands the growing pains its emerging democracies are experiencing because of deeply rooted ethnic conflicts and the tradition of one-party rule.

"When you don't have democratic institutions like a free press, civic organizations, NGOs, and most important, the right to vote in multiparty elections, you're stuck with a one-party government," Mr. Phillips said. "That hasn't worked. Democracy is the best way for Africa to solve its problems, and I'm convinced The Carter Center can help."