A common tenor in the academic literature holds that external actors can do very little to help countries coming out of conflict to establish a stable and functioning democracy. Instead it is often argued that "local ownership" or "political will" solely define a country's political path. Challenging this common wisdom, this study aims to show that external actors can decisively impact on peace and democracy in a given country, based on a comparison of Kenya and Kyrgyzstan. Both countries have experienced similar political trajectories, amongst them outbreaks of major interethnic violence. Interestingly, whilst the international community strongly influenced the subsequent democratization process in Kenya, they were not able to do so in Kyrgyzstan. This paper argues that two factors explain external actors’ influence or lack thereof: a high level of perceived urgency amongst international actors as well as a jointly pursued political agenda that applies a broader notion of ownership.
