Backlash

Colombia’s push back against ‘wave of autocracy’

Is the Obama administration hesitant to make democracy promotion a priority? The Carnegie Endowment’s Robert Kagan and Aroop Mukharji hint as much.
But they are more concerned to celebrate Colombia President Álvaro Uribe’s decision not to seek a fourth term of office:
Democracy is being undermined across South America, where hyper-presidencies and constitutional change have become commonplace. [read full story]

Promoting democracy: from innovative approaches to civic voices

Innovative approaches to democracy support in the Middle East and North Africa, voter registration systems and democracy activists’ testimonies are but a few of the initiatives and publications highlighted in the latest newsletter from the World Movement for Democracy.
Later this month, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy launches its new publication, “Beyond Orthodox Approaches – [read full story]

Democracy jobs

National Endowment for Democracy
Currently available opportunities include: Administrative Assistant – CIMA, Program Assistant – Asia, Program Assistant – Europe, Program Officer for Asia, Program Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, Database/Web Developer, and Senior Director of Finance.  Further details here.  
International Republican Institute
Currently available DC-based opportunities include: Online Communications Specialist, Deputy Press Secretary, Program Assistant [read full story]

Democracy events

Thursday, March 4, 2010 – 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM – The Iraqi Elections & the Changing Politico-Security Environment in Iraq – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. – Featuring keynote speaker Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, this one day conference presents a number of panels and experts discussing key issues of security and [read full story]

Democracy: victorious – and vulnerable

Are authoritarian states successfully promoting their interests and projecting their soft power while the world’s democracies experience a bout of timidity and isolationism?  Or are the autocratic states inherently flawed, failing to provide any sustainable alternative to liberal democracy?
A new book by Azar Gat raises a fundamental issue, writes Gideon Rachman in The Financial Times.
“The [read full story]

Democrats and autocrats: the best lack all conviction, while the worst………

 
Many democracies have effectively abandoned human rights advocacy just as the world’s autocracies are becoming more assertive in promoting anti-democratic values and interests, writes Joshua Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
In the United States, he writes, “the age of global human-rights advocacy has collapsed, giving way to an era of realism unseen [read full story]

Credit where it’s due: Obama meets activists

President Obama has been criticized for allegedly downgrading U.S. support for democracy and human rights. “So he should get some credit for what he did yesterday,” writes Jackson Diehl: not only meeting with Tibet’s Dalai Lama, but also giving time to a delegation of human rights defenders from around the world.
The president and National Security [read full story]

Youth activists arrested in Egypt

The arrest and detention of two young democracy activists is a further indication of the closing of political space in Egypt, as the World Movement for Democracy notes in this emergency alert:
Ahmed Maher and Amr Ali, both leaders in the April 6th  Youth Movement, were arrested in the early morning on 16 February as they were [read full story]

Human rights advocates need cross-border approaches to challenge autocratic backlash

The world’s democracy and human rights advocates need to develop genuinely global responses and new approaches to deal with the current authoritarian offensive against fundamental freedoms of association and expression, former Czech President Vaclav Havel told a Washington meeting last night.
There is a compelling moral imperative for solidarity with dissidents within totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, [read full story]

Democracy events

Thursday, February 18 – Iraq’s Elections—and Iraq’s Future. 12:15-1:45, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW –The Iraqi parliamentary elections on March 7 will be a critical test for the young democracy. Ad Melkert, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, will assess the latest situation on the ground in the run-up [read full story]

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