Democracy events

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 marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall which triggered drastic global changes and led to the end of the Cold War. To this day, many people in Germany remember the moving weeks of the Peaceful Revolution in the fall of 1989 with quickly rising numbers of protestors at the Monday Demonstrations proclaiming “We are the people”. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 symbolizes the triumph of the people ending the forced division of Germany and Europe and marks the beginning of an era of national reunification and greater European integration.

November 9, 2009. 10:00 am -12:00 noon. Involving the Citizen in Building the New Europe

The Delegation of the European Commission to the United States and Partners for Democratic Change are co-hosting this seminar to discuss the in what ways participation and consultation can be used to deepen citizens’ support for a united Europe and desire to be “European”? In this Seminar, the European Commission and Partners for Democratic Change focus on recent experiences and EU and foundation efforts to build a “European” consciousness and engagement through citizen consultation processes. Methodologies of engagement, policy formation, and civic participation are examined with attention to outcomes. Presenters include: Eva Deak, Director, Partners-Hungary; Dušan Ondrušek, Director, Partners-Slovakia; and Dana Rabináková, Director, Partners-Czech. Anthony Smallwood, First Counselor and Spokesperson, Head of Press and Public Diplomacy, The Delegation of the European Commission. The moderator for this seminar will be Jonathan Davidson, Former Senior Advisor, Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, DC. 

Partners for Democratic Change and the Delegation of the European Commission are pleased to invite you to attend this exciting Seminar as a part of a week-long Seminar series: “Innovations for Tomorrow” in celebration of Partners 20^th Anniversary.  For more information on “Involving the Citizen in Building the New Europe” and the additional 17 Seminars taking place from November 9-12, please visit:http://www.partnersglobal.org/celebrating-20-years-of-partners To RSVP for this event please email Christina.Chaconas@ec.europa.eu with Innovations for Tomorrow in the subject line. 10:00 am-12:00 noon, European Commission, Press Room, 2300 M St NW, Washington, DC 20037-1434

November 9, 2009. Why Freedom Still Matters with Senator John McCain, plus Jessica Einhorn, Dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; Kurt Volker, Senior Fellow and Managing Director Center for Transatlantic Relations. Senator John McCain will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and speak about the continuing need for the United States to support human rights in its foreign policy. Monday November 9, 2009.  1:00-2:00 PM. Kenney Auditorium, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington DC. RSVP to transatlanticrsvp@jhu.edu (put *November 9 McCain* in the subject line) or call 202-663-5880 for questions.

November 9, 2009, 1:45 – 3:30 PM. “Minorities and Marginalized Communities in Central and Eastern Europe.” Partners for Democratic Change and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will focus on effective interventions to improve the treatment of minorities and marginalized people – particularly the Roma in Eastern and Central Europe – and efforts to integrate them more fully into their respective communities. Presenters include: Eva Deak, Director, Partners-Hungary; Shukrie Gashi, Director, Partners-Kosovo; Daniela Kolarova, Director, Partners-Bulgaria and Partners for Democratic Change International; Dušan Ondrušek, Director, Partners-Slovakia; and Dana Rabináková, Director, Partners-Czech.  http://www.partnersglobal.org/innovations-minorities. National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) by Wednesday, November 4 to rsvp2@ned.org *Please include the title of the specific seminar(s) you will attend in your RSVP message.*

November 9, 2009, 3:45 – 5:30 PM. “Lessons Learned Since the Fall of the Wall”

Partners for Democratic Change and the National Endowment for Democracy assess what lessons from the former communist/socialist nations of Central and Eastern Europe have coherence and significance for those working in authoritarian states. What tactics, methodologies, and strategies of change used in the 1990s have resilience and relevance to change in the 2010 decade? Presenters include: Dr. Nadia Diuk, Vice President, Programs-Regions (for Africa, Latin America, and Eurasia), NED; Dušan Ondrušek, Director, Partners-Slovakia; and Raymond Shonholtz, President, Partners for Democratic Change. Reception will follow program National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) by Wednesday, November 4 to rsvp2@ned.org *Please include the title of the specific seminar(s) you will attend in your RSVP message.*

November 10, 2009. The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom. 10:00 — 11:30 am. The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC.

For decades, the people of North Korea have lived in extreme isolation under a closed and repressive regime controlled by Kim Jong-il. Individual rights remain restricted and the regime continues to exercise complete control over the political class and legal systems.

On November 10, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings (CNAPS) will host Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig, adjunct associate professor of psychology at the University of Maryland University College, for a discussion of their new book The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009). Drawing on decades of scholarship and experience, the co-authors will discuss aspects of life in North Korea and the ways in which the outside world can reach everyday North Koreans so that they can make decisions based on truth rather than propaganda.

The co-authors will be joined by Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Roberta Cohen, senior advisor to the representative of the United Nations secretary-general on the human rights of internally displaced persons. Senior Fellow and CNAPS Director Richard Bush will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion. After the program, panelists will take audience questions. 

To RSVP for this event, please call the Office of Communications at 202.797.6105 or click here.

November 12, 2009, 3:00 – 5:30 PM. “Security Sector Engagement for Peaceful Democracy Building in West Africa.”

Partners for Democratic Change, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the African Center for Strategic Studies will lead a discussion on strategies for improved civilian-military cooperation to promote democratic governance and stability in West Africa. Colonel Birame Diop from the new Partners Center in Dakar will present the findings of a recent study and conference on the nature of security sector engagement on issues of human security and social development in Senegal and the challenges of disseminating positive models of cooperation in other countries in the region. Presenters include: Colonel Birame Diop, Senegalese Air Force; Michael Edward Hess, Former Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID; Dr. Brad A. Gutierrez, Academic Chair of Security Studies at the Africa Center of Strategic Studies, National Defense University; and Dave Peterson, Senior Director, Africa, NED. 

National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) by Wednesday, November 4 to rsvp2@ned.org *Please include the title of the specific seminar(s) you will attend in your RSVP message.*

November 16, 2009. U.S. Private and Non-U.S. Funding of Media Development featuring: Anne Nelson, Author, Experimentation and Evolution in Private U.S. Funding of Media Development; Mary Myers, Author, Funding for Media Development by Major Donors Outside the United States. With comments by: Marjorie Rouse, Internews Network. Moderated by: Marguerite Sullivan, Center for International Media Assistance.

12-2:00 p.m. Lunch served from 12:00–12:30 p.m. National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) with name and affiliation by Thursday, November 12 to CIMA@ned.org

As both U.S. journalism and private foundations have entered a period of crisis, new avenues and approaches are being explored for the media development business model. Traditional foundations–especially those rooted in U.S. journalism companies–are cutting back on international funding, and new foundations from the digital media technology sector are making a major impact. A recently published CIMA report by Anne Nelson, called Experimentation and Evolution in Private U.S. Funding of Media Development, covers both traditional and new U.S. private funding mechanisms. A forthcoming CIMA report by Mary Myers focuses on funding for media development by major non-U.S. donors. From an international perspective, the global economic downturn has not yet had a significant effect on media development funding world-wide. A look across the international donors surveyed in the report shows that budgetary commitment to media support has either risen slightly or remained the same over the last three to five years.

How is U.S. private and non-U.S. funding being spent? Is it for training, capacity-building, infrastructure, legal reform, physical safety, online media, or other projects? What are the trends in terms of donor priorities and approaches? What can media development organizations expect from U.S. private foundations and non-U.S. donors in the future?

November 18, 2009. Middle Eastern Democrats and their Vision of the Future. National Endowment for Democracy, in cooperation with The National Democratic Institute and The International Republican Institute invite you to a conference featuring: Dr. Aseel al-Awadhi, Member of Parliament, Kuwait (one of four women elected in May 2009); Ziad Baroud, Interior Minister, Lebanon; Founding Member, Democratic Renewal Movement; Musa Maaytah, Minister of Political Development, Jordan; Nouzha Skalli, Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, Morocco; Ayman Nour, Chairman of the El Ghad Party, Egypt (by phone).

Keynote address: Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee.

For the past two decades, democrats in the Middle East have been fighting uphill battles to reform and open up their political space.  Partial political reforms in some countries combined with the advent of new communications technologies have provided some safe space for emerging civic networks.  Recent hopeful signs include women’s enfranchisement in Kuwait and the election of women parliamentarians,  Lebanon’s  fundamentally peaceful and well-administered election, significant gains by moderate parties in Iraq, and the election of 3,400 women to  municipal council seats in Morocco.  In addition, civil society gains in Arab countries have been significant and are unlikely to be reversed. 

Still, democrats from the region often occupy a beleaguered political space between entrenched authoritarian systems and radical Islamist movements.  Given the considerable interest that the United States and the international community have in democratic progress in the Middle East, it is important that positive trends continue and that the prospect for democracy be fully appreciated.  This conference will give leading Middle Eastern democrats an opportunity to share their concerns with an American audience, and to highlight the challenges they believe lie ahead as well as their vision of the possibilities for democratic progress in the region.

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. NED Main Conference Room, 1025 F Street, N.W., 8^th floor, Washington, DC 20004. RSVP (acceptances only) by Friday, November 13, to rsvp@ned.org

November 19. 430-7pm International Foundation for Electoral Systems Celebrate IFES’ new Washington, DC headquarters and attend a special presentation of the Joe C. Baxter Award. IFES, 1850 K St., NW, Washington, DC. RSVP online at www.ifes.org/openhouse, by phone to +1 202.350.6714 or email rsvp@ifes.org

December 1, 2009. The Future of U.S.-Pakistan Relations. A conversation with David Ignatius, distinguished columnist and Associate Editor of The Washington Post, FDD President Clifford May, and FDD Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht. 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 1150 22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 Kindly RSVP by Friday, November 13 to Julia Nayfeld, Julia@DefendDemocracy.org or 202-403-0873. Space limited. RSVP Required.
December 03, 2009 – 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Democracy: Traps and Question Marks. The Fifth Annual Ion Ratiu Democracy Lecture with Adam Michnik, political activist, retired member of Poland’s first democratic parliament and Editor in Chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter. Full details and RSVP here.