Browse: Home /
north korea
By Michael Allen on March 11, 2010
Today’s must-read is Vin Weber’s demolition of a recent critique of the National Endowment for Democracy by ill-informed libertarian Shikha Dalmia which rehashed some old myths about the NED and democracy assistance in general.
He’s rather gentle on Ms. Dalmia’s shaky grasp of international politics (she entertains the illusion that “Communism has … evaporated, and democracy [read full story]
Posted in Democracy assistance, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, democracy, democracy promotion, dissidents, foreign policy, north korea, promoting democracy |
By Michael Allen on March 5, 2010
A North Korean factory worker was publicly executed by firing squad this week after conveying news out of the secretive communist state via his illicit cell phone, Associated Press reports:
The man, surnamed Chong, made calls to the defector using an illegal Chinese mobile phone, the broadcaster said, citing a North Korean security agency official it [read full story]
Posted in Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, Tools/technology, communist regimes, freedom of expression, media, north korea |
By Michael Allen on February 11, 2010
North Korea’s political system has little to do with Stalinism or communism, argues Christopher Hitchens:
…we should instead regard the Kim Jong-il system as a phenomenon of the very extreme and pathological right. It is based on totalitarian “military first” mobilization, is maintained by slave labor, and instills an ideology of the most unapologetic racism and [read full story]
Posted in Asia, north korea |
By Michael Allen on January 25, 2010
Underground reporters and democracy advocates are penetrating the world’s most secretive state, The New York Times reports, highlighting the first known public protests against North Korea’s semi-feudal, semi-Stalinist regime.
The report highlights the work of Daily NK and Open Radio for North Korea, grantees of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Daily NK recently revealed that the regime [read full story]
Posted in Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Featured, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, communist regimes, democracy support, dissidents, freedom of expression, media, north korea, promoting democracy, protests |
By Michael Allen on November 6, 2009
The Obama administration’s prospective Special Envoy for North Korean human rights has called for more pro-democracy broadcasting into North Korea, just as the founder of Free North Korean Radio, is awarded an international human rights prize.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy has awarded its 2009 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award to Mr. Kim Seoung Min, [read full story]
Posted in National Endowment for Democracy, Tools/technology, media, north korea |
By Michael Allen on November 6, 2009
November 9, 2009. 20 Years Ago: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation invites you to a Roundtable Discussion with Torsten Herbst, Member of the State Legislature of Saxony, Secretary General of the Saxon Free Democratic Party (FDP). The Willard InterContinental Hotel, Crystal Room, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004
The year 2009 [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Center for International Private Enterprise, Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Elections, Events, Failed states, Human rights, International Republican Institute, Islam/politics, NGOs/Civil society, National Democratic Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, color revolutions, communist regimes, corruption, democracy and development, democracy promotion, democracy support, dictatorships, dissidents, emerging democracies, engagement, foreign policy, freedom of expression, governance, north korea, promoting democracy, protests | Tagged Berlin Wall |
By Michael Allen on September 11, 2009
Prospects for a change in leadership – albeit another dynastic succession – in North Korea seem to be receding, as Kim Jong Il’s supposedly terminal illness shows signs of abating. A further indication is that the regime has ended the propaganda campaign promoting his third son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Un.
There have been “absolutely [read full story]
Posted in Analysis, Closed societies, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, corruption, dictatorships, north korea | Tagged National Endowment for Democracy |
By Michael Allen on July 23, 2009
The Obama Administration must address human rights in any deals with North Korea, including its “horrific” gulag system, says Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
In this statement read into the Congressional Record, he cites the U.S. Committee for Human Rights report, The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps, [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Closed societies, Human rights, National Endowment for Democracy, dictatorships, north korea |
By Michael Allen on July 20, 2009
“Tibetans have the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, Burmese have Aung San Suu Kyi, Darfurians have Mia Farrow and George Clooney,” notes human rights activist Suzanne Scholte. “North Koreans have no one like that.”
The torments of life in North Korea’s gulag are documented in this must-read article in The Washington Post:
Before guards shoot prisoners [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Human rights, Must Read, National Endowment for Democracy, corruption, dissidents, north korea | Tagged Aung San Suu Kyi, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Carl Gershman, Dalai Lama, George Clooney, Mia Farrow, National Endowment for Democracy, north korea, North Korean defectors, Pyongyang, Richard Gere, Rimjingang |
By Michael Allen on May 28, 2009
Kim Jong-Il combines Stalinist dictatorship with narcissistic personality
North Korea’s nuclear test and missile launchings have been widely condemned throughout the international community. Even by the regime’s friends in China.
But Greg Sheridan makes the case that Beijing was only going through the motions. He notes that no Chinese diplomat joined US, Japanese and South Korean [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Human rights, foreign policy, north korea | Tagged Human rights, north korea, Realism |
Recent Comments