Democracy Digest

A moral and strategic case for supporting Iran’s protesters

By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009

While many observers have lauded the U.S. administration’s cautious approach to the unrest in Iran, other voices have lamented what they see as a failure to support Iran’s democrats and civil society activists.
The New Republic’s Leon Wieseltier makes a forceful and eloquent case for a more principled and assertive international solidarity with Iran’s protesters:
So it [read full story]

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Azerbaijan: civil society wins – for now

By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009

Azerbaijan’s civil society has won at least a temporary victory in blocking proposed amendments to the NGO and media laws that many feared would close political space and harden the Caspian state’s purportedly soft authoritarianism.
The final draft dropped controversial provisions that significantly impeded foreign funding, required NGOs to disclose members; personal details, and prescribed harsh [read full story]

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Obama must raise democracy, human rights in Moscow

By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009

President Barack Obama should challenge the Kremlin on its democratic backsliding at this week’s U.S.-Russian summit in Moscow, says a group of foreign policy specialists and democracy advocates.
The open letter, an initiative of the Foreign Policy Initiative, suggests that the president should reiterate the argument of his recent Cairo speech that governments that protect democratic [read full story]

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Iran: regime suppresses dissent, but has lost semblance of legitimacy

By Michael Allen on July 1, 2009

Amid signs of growing police brutality and arbitrary violence, the Iranian authorities are stepping up their repression of dissenters now that the Guardian Council has validated the June 12 election presidential results.
The government closed the reformist newspaper Etemad Melli after defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who is associated with the publication, insisted that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad [read full story]

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Honduras: democrats must show zero tolerance – even for ‘democratic’ coups

By Michael Allen on July 1, 2009

As the coup in Honduras continues to attract condemnation from governments and civil society groups, the Organization of American States today gave Honduras 72 hours to reinstate deposed President Manuel Zelaya or face suspension.
It announced that OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza will undertake “diplomatic initiatives aimed at… the reinstatement of President Jose Manuel Zelaya [read full story]

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Why has Iran’s Islamic Republic survived for 30 years?

By Michael Allen on June 30, 2009

No, it’s not the oil, the terror, Shi’ism, or the nationalism unleashed by the war with Iraq, writes Ervand Abrahamian, in an interesting background to current events. Economic and social populism has been the key to sustaining Iran’s clerical authoritarianism.
By prioritizing social over military spending (the armed forces take up some 4 per cent of [read full story]

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Honduras coup evokes ‘unacceptable’ images of Latin America’s past

By Michael Allen on June 30, 2009

As democratic states and non-governmental groups alike condemned the coup in Honduras, ousted president Manuel Zelaya insists that he will return to Tegucigalpa on Thursday, accompanied by Latin American dignitaries, including Jose Miguel Insulza, the head of the Organization of American States. Honduras may be expelled from the OAS at its emergency meeting today.
Pro-Zelaya demonstrators [read full story]

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Failure to engage Iran’s civil society and dissidents?

By Michael Allen on June 29, 2009

Iran’s ruling elite appears to be gaining the upper hand and consolidating its rule, although small-scale, often spontaneous demonstrations continue and Mir-Housein Mousavi still refuses to drop his demands of en election re-run.
The crackdown has led to a tactical shift within the opposition, from mass rallies to civil disobedience, including strikes within strategically vital sectors, [read full story]

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Lost opportunity to support Iran’s democrats?

By Michael Allen on June 29, 2009

Just as Rwanda paid the price for Somalia, the Obama administration appears to have “overlearned” the lessons of the Iraq war and George W. Bush’s freedom agenda, warns Nader Mousavizadeh a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Consequently, “an opportunity to provide legitimate support to the popular movement when it mattered most was [read full story]

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China’s silent crackdown on rights advocates

By Michael Allen on June 26, 2009

The stifling of independent voices through apparently administrative procedures instead of nakedly repressive measures is a common feature of the new authoritarians’ distinctive backlash against democracy.
China’s communist state provides the latest example, targeting lawyers who have taken up – and even won – too many human rights, labor and religious freedom cases for the authorities’ [read full story]

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Regime forcing reformists to challenge Islamic Republic?

By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009

The Guardian Council’s confirmation of the disputed June 12 election results has limited the options of reformists who have tried to work within the constraints of the Islamic Republic, says former student leader Ali Afshari. “They have closed any possibility for change inside the regime,” says Afshari, a former Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment [read full story]

Burmese democracy activists: urgent appeal

By Michael Allen on July 2, 2009

The World Movement for Democracy has issued the following Democracy Alert appealing for action in support of detained Burmese democracy activists:
On July 2, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an Urgent Appeal in support of close to a dozen detained democracy workers in Burmese prisons who have not received necessary medical care. In most [read full story]

Democracy jobs

By Michael Allen on June 29, 2009

Research Associate, National Endowment for Democracy
The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) seeks Research Associates to work closely with Reagan-Fascell Fellows in residence at NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies for the 2009-2010 fellowship year (October 1, 2009-July 31, 2010).
Each research associate is assigned to work with several fellows. Duties [read full story]

Events

By Michael Allen on June 29, 2009

June 30. Losing Trust: Understanding Popular Disaffection with India’s Politicians featuring Dr. Ronojoy Sen, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow; moderated by Dr. Marc Plattner, National Endowment for Democracy.
12:00 noon–2:00 p.m. (Lunch served 12:00–12:30 p.m.) National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F. Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004. Telephone: 202-378-9675 RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation to [read full story]

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