After London: Blair Reaffirms Democratic Imperative
The recent terrorist attacks in London and Sharm el-Sheikh, alongside similar outrages in Netanya, Israel, and ongoing atrocities in Iraq, have prompted a wider recognition of the need to confront fundamentalist Islam and its apologists. Many commentators suggest this extends beyond security considerations to an ideological terrain that necessarily includes the reform and democratization of the broader Middle East.

Such an engagement demands “a battle of ideas, hearts and minds, both within Islam and outside it.” Noting that “the 20th century showed how powerful political ideologies could be,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair told last week's Labour Party conference. Blair insisted that the new jihadist ideology “cannot be beaten except by confronting it, symptoms and causes, head-on. Without compromise and without delusion.”

Reaction to the London attacks in particular suggests a strategic re-think on the part of some Europeans which reflects similar post-9/11 reassessments in the US. “If the west continues to collude with local despots in denying their peoples freedom, we will lose that war of ideas,” says one observer. “The most important thing to recognise is how the great democratic wave that freed east and central Europe, Latin America and swaths of sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades ran into the sands of the Middle East, leaving the Arabs marooned in tyranny.”

The specific challenge of the Arab world's acute democracy deficit features prominently in review's of jihadist terrorism's underpinnings. The failed modernization and the incompetence, corruption and tyranny" of the region's governments fuels jihadi radicals,” suggests the Financial Times' Martin Wolf. Yet he cautions while the US “now claims to be promoting democracy throughout the Middle East, it must accept the possibly threatening consequences of acting in its support, along with the still more dangerous consequences of now failing to do so.”

But the onus cannot remain on the US alone. Europe's vulnerability, geographical proximity, demographic challenges and moral responsibility combine to create a compelling strategic imperative for a more serious and sustained attempt at democratic reform inthe broader Middle East. “Working toward the modernization, liberalization and eventual democratization of the wider Middle East is the only certain, long-term way to drain the swamp,” notes leading commentator Timothy Garton Ash. “Here, it is Europe rather than the United States that needs to wake up, urgently, to the imperative of doing more.”

Unfortunately, attempts to develop a long-term multilateral approach to regional transformation have been frustrated by a combination of local regimes' resistance and potential allies' myopic realpolitik despite vocal demand from within the region. “When will the West carefully listen to Arab Democrats and bring us the needed strong and open support?” asks Rached Ghannouchi of the Tunisian Liberal Mediterranean Party, reacting to the London attacks. “When will the West seriously pressure the Moslem dictators to engage political reforms in their countries?”

"West is to Blame" Claims Confirm Need for War of Ideas
“Moderates are not moderate through weakness but through strength,” said Tony Blair, suggesting that “now is the time to show it in defence of our common values." Perhaps predictably, other British commentators seemed determined to prove the truth of Robert Frost's definition of a liberal as someone “too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.”

Blair's former Cabinet colleague Clare Short suggested the attacks were provoked by Britain being “implicated in the slaughter of large numbers of civilians in Iraq and supporting a Middle East policy that for the Palestinians creates this sense of double standards.” The apparent oversight that jihadist terrorists are responsible for the carnage in Iraq and the implication that they would be appeased by a Palestinian-Israeli settlement would appear as flawed as Short's chronology. Al Qaeda of course declared war on the West long before Iraq or Afghanistan and when prospects for Middle East peace were at their most promising.

Yet a report from the UK's Royal Institute for International Affairs, prepared before the London Tube bombings, criticizes the UK government for serving as “pillion passenger” to the United States' war on terror. The RIIA, or “Chatham House,” argues that the UK is now at particular risk as the closest ally of the US and that the Iraq war gave “a boost to the Al-Qaeda network's propaganda, recruitment and fundraising.”

Some suggest this position is no surprise from Chatham House which, as a voice of the historically Arabist “camel corps” in the British Foreign Office, has been cautious about challenging the status quo in the Arab world. “The mood runs deeper at Chatham House than it does in the general public,” notes one leading regional analysts, noting that it's stance “infects many elite British analysts.” The head of its Middle East Programme has long been hostile to efforts at regional transformation and its analysts have also been openly partisan. Thankfully, other left-liberal commentators in the UK have taken a more militantly anti-terrorist line, rejecting apologetics based on the West's alleged culpability.

Many moderate Muslims were quick to condemn the London attacks. Controversial academic Tariq Ramadan insisted that co-religionists "must have the courage to denounce what is said and done by certain Muslims in the name of their religion." While Al-Arabiya's Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed even lamented the tolerance accorded Arab and Muslim extremists seeking refuge in Britain, observing that “they have established organizations, promoting their beliefs all over the world and denounced others as infidels in mosques, schools, and the media, and have publicly called for battles to begin.”

But UK-based militant imams and some Arab radicals have been equivocal or openly justified the carnage. Violence and terror do not come out of a vacuum, wrote Abdul Bari Atwan in the London-based al Quds al-Arabi, demanding that “a political solution must be found to address the wrongs that are being committed against Arabs and Muslims.” Others were even more forthright. The attack was a “great victory” for Al-Qaeda, said Hani Sibai, Director of London's Al-Maqreze Centre, which "rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud." In any case, it is legitimate to target innocents, he argues, because "the term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law in the modern Western sense. People are either of Dar al-Harb [the domain of war or territory ruled by non-Muslims] or not."

“The people you strike have the right to strike back at you, in your home, your country, anywhere," said Mamoun Tamimi, a member of the Palestinian National Council. “Blair will fall just like [Spanish premier Jose] Aznar did”, he predicted in an Al-Jazeera television interview. Tamimi justified the attacks by claiming that Palestinians have been suffering because Britain “uprooted the Palestinian people from its land and planted a Jewish entity.” “It brought over riffraff and gave them Palestine,” he said

Hot Summer in Egypt As Reform Ferment Swells
Egypt's democratic opposition is showing signs of broadening its base and addressing hitherto disabling divisions. Meanwhile, the courts have given a provisional go-ahead to a moderate Islamist party as government efforts to manipulate forthcoming elections start to fray. An opposition long fractured along ideological and other fault lines has now converged on a common set of demands for free and fair elections, presidential term limits, rejection of hereditary succession to any chosen heir, and an end to the state of emergency.

Opposition groups from across the political spectrum issued a joint call to boycott September's presidential election, a poll promoted by the government as a major reform initiative. The call came at the launch meeting of the National Coalition for Democratic Transformation which saw 3000 people pack the Lawyers Syndicate to see leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic group, join with secular rivals, including the Kifaya (Enough) reform movement. Former prime minister Aziz Sedqi heads the new grouping. Kifaya has outflanked the Brotherhood in recent months, attracting activists previously drawn to the Islamists and prompting dissent in the latter's ranks.

Another potentially unifying initiative, the National Coalition for Reform (NCR), an alliance between Islamists and secular leftist groups, was launched on 30 June. Representatives of Kifaya, the Nasserist Al-Karama, and the liberal Al-Ghad and Al-Wafd parties participated in workshops leading to the formation of the NCR, but distanced themselves when it launched, in part because the NCR advocates a boycott of the presidential elections which Al-Ghad's Ayman Nour intends to contest

The established opposition parties appear to be threatened by the emergence of new political actors and the embryonic secular-religious alliance they represent. "What is new” says Hassan Nafaa, a Cairo University professor of politics, “is the way in which [the new groups] reflect popular discontent in a society that is beginning to organise itself politically away from the traditional parties." The most difficult challenge confronting such groups arises from "Egyptian civil society's lack of democratic traditions." "The elite," says Nafaa, "remain incapable of doing collective work and this is a fundamental weakness."

European and US influence is likely to be critical, says Cairo-based analyst Emad El-Din Shahin in a paper for the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies. “Disappointingly, it is not yet clear which side either of these two external actors has decided to support,” says Shahin, “that of stability with reformed autocrats or change with unreliable reformers.”

"Not Your Grandma's Islamists" OK'd by Newly-Assertive Judges
An Egyptian court this month overruled a decision by the state Council for Party Affairs, dominated by the ruling National Democracy Party, and legalized a moderate Islamist party, granting a license to operate pending a decision on full legal recognition later this year. The decree makes the Hizb Al Wasat (or Center Party), the country's only legal Islamist party. "It's a historic shift because for the first time in more than 50 years a party representing a moderate Islamist current will be allowed," said party founder Aboul Ala Madi. Madi left the Brotherhood in 1996 and believes a moderate Islamist party will curb the potential for militancy and political violence.

The ruling is potentially significant as opposition groups have long argued that the denial of legal outlets for Islamist politics has created a vacuum in which militants have thrived clandestinely. "One of the main reasons of violence and extremism is the absence of freedoms and lack of representation of the Islamists in political life," he said. Brotherhood members will be allowed to join. "The (Brotherhood) leadership is afraid of that," said Madi. The Wasat party could emerge as a less menacing alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood, but also provide a "dual track" strategy for Islamists, similar to that in Morocco, where the Justice and Development Party is legal but the broader-based Justice and Charity Organization is banned.

The opposition is also mobilizing against controversial changes to the law governing political parties approved by the NDP-dominated People's Assembly. The focus of dissent is Article 8 which creates a 9-member committee with a built-in NDP majority to authorize or deny the legality of proposed political parties. Aspirant parties would also be required to publish 1,000 signatures from ten different governorates in at least two national dailies at their own expense (only 50 signatures were needed previously).

Whether and How to Engage Islamists
The formation of the Wasat party and the opposition's rapprochement in a new alliance have revived fierce disputes over secular liberals relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. Voices in and around the US administration seem to suggest Washington would consider dialogue with Islamist groups demonstrating genuine commitment to democracy and which it believes would be moderated by the demands of political office. "I don't mean to underestimate the impact of radical Islamists having a say in the political process," US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice recently said, "but remember that the political process also has an effect on those who run in it."

The Muslim Brotherhood is increasingly at pains to assert their democratic bona fides. "Freedom is at the heart -- it's the principal part -- of Islamic law," insists Mahdi Akef, the Brotherhood's spiritual guide. "Revolutions don't really lead to democracies, just look at Iran," says his colleague Ibrahim al-Hudaiby. "The Brotherhood really wants a democracy in Egypt, and it's willing to wait to make that happen peacefully."

But the organization's democratic credentials remain the subject of heated debate and not all opposition politicians are in favor of engaging the Islamists. "We have nothing in common with them and we wouldn't form an alliance with them," says Ayman Nour, the liberal Ghad Party's candidate in the September election. "There can be no understanding with such groups," insists Rifaat El-Said, head of the left-wing Al-Tagammu Party. "Their very thinking is against progress, democracy and reform." Other commentators doubt the depth and sincerity of the Islamists' democratic convictions. "The Brotherhood is trying to appeal to the Europeans and the United States, argues Abdel Moneim Said, director of Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies "They are trying to show they are part of a national movement... [ and] not seeking a theological, theocratic government."

The organisation's commitment to grass-root politics in Egypt's professional associations has led some to suggest that the Brotherhood strategy is to await the current regime's failure to manage incremental change and then to fill the resulting political vacuum by virtue of its organizational superiority."

Egypt is not the only country to see Arab liberals democrats engaging with moderate Islamists, a potentially promising and mutually beneficial trend, given the former's lack of a broad social base and the latter's need to confirm their democratic credentials. "Without the formation of far-reaching opposition alliances, the autocrats between Morocco and Bahrain might eventually manage to do away with current western pressures," argues Egyptian political scientist Amr Hamzawy, "either by inventing a 'theater of democratization' based on cosmetic reforms or by publicly discrediting American and European calls for democracy."

Democrats remain deeply divided over both the principle and the terms of engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood and suspicious of Islamists' theocratic and authoritarian instincts if not intent. Yet the reform movement cannot afford to have its democratic credentials questioned by precluding an arrangement with a palpably popular mass movement, especially when its own leadership is dominated by urban intellectual or professional elites. "There is widespread concern that opening up the system too quickly would allow the Islamists to dominate, which many reformers would not like to see happen," notes an observer. "Yet the Islamists cannot be excluded, either, because they are such a strong and legitimate force in society and should be allowed to vie for power in a true democracy."

Next Revolution in Belarus?
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has “no understanding of democracy,” believes Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili. “The next revolution is to take place in Belarus,” he told Italian TV this week, while warning that “bloody repressions could be expected there”. His comments reflect growing expectations that despite Russian support, “Europe's last dictatorship” could be the next to face a popular democratic revolution.

Belarus is facing growing external pressure to end human rights abuses and facilitate democratization. The US Congress has allocated $24 million for democracy assistance in Belarus. The European Commission has initiated a process that could end trade links with Belarus with the launch of a monitoring process on Minsk's violation international labour conventions. This follows reports that the authorities have suppressed independent trade unions and jailed union activists. A suspension of trade ties would give Belarus the same pariah status as Burma. Belarus sent €2.7 billion worth of goods to the EU in 2004 and imported goods worth €2.6 billion.

The EU's success in promoting democracy through its accession process “stops in places like Belarus”, argues democracy activist and scholar Vitali Silitski. EU technical assistance through its TACIS programme is based on government-to-government relations which gives Minsk the right to veto support for democrats or civil society. A transition from technical assistance to more direct forms of democracy promotion in Belarus would require “not only bureaucratic changes but also an adjustment of attitudes within the EU,” he argues. Silitski notes that he Brussels-based Bertelsmann Foundation advocates a European Democracy Fund while Poland's Batory Foundation goes further in a recent report on “Efficient EU Policy Towards Belarus,” calling upon the EU to focus on schemes that promote the “activity of Belarusian society, the consolidation of opposition forces, and the building of pro-European attitudes." The “EU simply does not possess instruments for assistance and democracy promotion that can't be blocked by a restrictive government”.

Regimes To Blame for Retarded Development, says "Arab Street"
Contrary to the claims of many external analysts, a significant majority (81%) of Arab survey respondents cite regimes' reluctance to reform as the principal factor stalling development in the Arab world. Some 7% claim civil society is failing to convince governments while only 8% blame the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and 4% cite terrorism, according to a recent opinion survey from the Arab nationalist Al Arabiya newspaper. Only 10% of respondents believe resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would expedite development in the region. Over two thirds cite the rule of law as more significant while 23% believe freedom of speech is critical.

Lack of confidence in political parties is given by 61% as the principal deterrent to greater political participation, while fear of oppression deters 27% of respondents and 12% cite social traditions and culture. Judicial reform is considered the key to enhanced transparency in Arab institutions (45%), alongside strong parliaments (31%) and media freedom (24%).

…. But One Leader Goes Voluntarily
Arab citizens are clearly frustrated with leaders who are notoriously difficult to shift. For a region often described as in turmoil, political leadership have been remarkably stable. One likely exception is Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh who has announced that he will not be a candidate in next year's presidential elections. He will step down, he said, so that Yemenis can train themselves "in the practice of peaceful succession."

Saleh had been widely expected to run in presidential elections, due in September 2006. In his announcement, Saleh thanked "brotherly and friendly" countries for helping Yemen but insisted the country had developed its own democracy and had little to learn from "foreign institutes."

While there is predictable speculation about ulterior motives, Salah's move was described by Lebanon's Daily Star as "a historic gesture" which has "certainly raised the bar for Arab leaders across the region."

The unpredictability of leadership change in the Arab world means that Washington should consider increasing contacts with leaders and factions who are "out of power but enjoy considerable support," according to one analyst. Democratization is "a mixed proposition" says Daniel Byman, a Washington-based academic. Successful liberalization and pluralism may generate stability but at the cost, as in Iran, of producing anti-Amerian regimes. Islamists, in particular, Byman suggests, are often well- organized and best positioned to exploit democratic space. While they are hostile to the US, "dialogue is possible, and indeed necessary, if many of the stereotypes and conspiracy theories are to be dispelled."

Prescriptions for Arab Reform
A transatlantic commitment to promote Arab reform requires a common approach, suggest German analyst Volker Perthes and Lebanese journalist Rami Khouri. Europe and the US should cultivate genuine partnership with countries rather than engage in a patronizing mission civilisatrice. They must also engage with actors of all political orientations “committed to peaceful, pluralistic change,” including Islamist orientations, pan-Arab, and leftist, elements. 

“Credible, lasting change happens slowly and gradually,” they argue, “responding best to nuanced, differentiated, targeted strategies for democratic reforms devised jointly by Arabs and their foreign partners.” They claim that Arab public opinion does not demand democracy as much as governments responsive enough to meet demands for basic human needs.

Focusing on structures rather than prominent individuals would allow local actors to develop “credible structures and movements that would themselves enhance reform and change” while a “nuanced, sector-based reform agenda could engage local elites and create common interests.”

Arab reforms should not be made “an object of trans-Atlantic psychotherapy”, Perthes and Khouri argue. “The trans-Atlantic policy debate on the Middle East and any common policy agenda for the region must ultimately be determined by what is needed in and for the Middle East and the Arab world, not by what might help to heal the rift between an increasingly Mideast-stressed American administration and individual European leaders.”

Chavez "Dictatorship" Prompts Criticism and Cheerleading
Henri Charrière, the Papillon convict incarcerated on French Guiana, has re-emerged in Venezuela on the country's electoral register, 32 years after his death. The country's democratic opposition has long contended that the voter list has facilitated vote-rigging and demanded that it be cleaned before August's municipal elections. The government's refusal to do has led to fears that the elections will not be free and fair.

“Why is there such a big fear of undertaking an audit of the electoral register?” asks Alejandro Plaz, spokesman for Sumate, a Caracas-based NGO promoting electoral transparency and participation. The current Venezuelan National Electoral Council is a body of dubious credibility and known for acting arbitrarily in favour of the regime. A recent report from independent analysts Inter-American Dialog concluded that the quality of democracy in Venezuela was comparable to Haiti. President Hugo Chavez has responded to criticism by prosecuting Sumate. With no date set for a trial, the civil society activists are currently locked in a “legal twilight zone, a virtual holding tank of menace and uncertainty that despots often find useful.” Such moves have prompted growing criticism of Chavez. "I am convinced that what we have here is a dictatorship," Cardinal Rosalio Castillo, Venezuela's highest Catholic prelate, said last week.

The Venezuelan government has reacted to criticism by mobilizing overseas supporters in an international PR offensive. Eva Gollinger, a US-Venezuelan dual national described by Chavez as the “Bride of the Bolivarian Revolution” has emerged as a leading apologist. While credited by some media sources as an independent critic, Gollinger's questionable credentials as an autonomous activist and her VIP treatment by Caracas have raised eyebrows. The Spanish-language version of her paean to Venezuela's caudillo, “The Chavez Code (launched officially in Havana before it got to Caracas) has been criticized for shoddy research and misleading claims. Gollinger has condemned Sumate for accepting US funds, but as a willing recipient of Venezuelan government funds is herself described as a paid agent of the Chavez regime.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Cuban Dissident Re-arrested
Marcelo Lopez, one of 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 by Cuba's communist regime, was detained again at a police checkpoint in Havana last week, the Cuban Human Rights Committee reports. Police have also detained dissidents Anaika Paneca and Luis Angel Medina according to Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and National Reconciliation. The 41 year-old Lopez was one of 75 human rights activists incarcerated in 2003 after being denounced as "mercenaries in the pay of a foreign power."

Last week Cuba's authorities broke up a rare protest in central Havana, arresting at least 10 protesters. "It has been 11 years since we have seen anything like that," said a Western diplomat. "It is a clear sign of the government's nervousness as the problems in Cuba have piled up."

London Terror Claims Solidarnosc Activist
A prominent British supporter of the Polish Solidarity union movement was among the victims of the recent London bus bombing. Giles Hart, 55, was a founder member and former chairman of the UK-based Polish Solidarity Campaign, formed in 1980 to win support for free trade unionism and democracy in Poland.

Promoting Democracy Abroad?
What contributions have democracy promotion projects made in countries like Turkey or the Ukraine? What are the possibilities in countries like Russia or Iraq? Submit your views to Politeia, the European citizenship and democracy network. Send your contribution to info@politeia.ne.

NED Honors Afghan Activists
Three leading Afghan democrats received the National Democracy Award from leading US Senators John McCain, Paul Sarbanes and Hillary Rodham Clinton at a Capitol Hill event last week. Sakena Yacoobi, Mohammad Nasib and Sarwar Hussaini, also met with President Bush in the Oval Office.

“I hope that our National Democracy Award will create renewed interest and concern for all those who are working so hard to deepen the democratic process we have seen in Afghanistan,” said NED Chairman Vin Weber. The three Afghan honorees are leaders of civil society organizations that educate average citizens about democracy, women's and minority rights and strategies for peace-building and conflict resolution.

Yacoobi's Afghan Institute of Learning provides health care, education and human rights training to hundreds of women. Mohammad Nasib is the director of the Welfare Association for Development of Afghanistan, which has trained a network of more than 1,000 maliks, or local leaders, in the philosophy and practice of democracy and human rights. The network was influential in encouraging people to vote in the 2004 Afghan elections. Sarwar Hussaini's Cooperation Center for Afghanistan is a nongovernmental organization that seeks to empower women and strengthen democratic practices within traditional institutions.

Reform UN, Democracy Caucus Told
Leaders of human rights and civil society groups from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas has called on the world's democracies to initiate a fundamental reform of the United Nations, especially its human rights mechanisms.

In a letter to the UN Democracy Caucus, the group asks governments to ensure that the UN General Assembly enact UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal for replacing the widely discredited UN Commission on Human Rights with a smaller Human Rights Council composed of rights protectors, not abusers. Such an elevated body would meet year round, instead of the current six weeks, and be charged with tackling the most urgent human rights violations by UN member states. The UN Democracy Caucus is a global coalition of over 100 democratic and democratizing nations committed to the promotion and strengthening of democracy and human rights at the United Nations.

The letter also urges the Democracy Caucus to support establishment of a new Democracy Fund at the United Nations to assist countries committed to strengthening democratic institutions around the world. A Freedom House scorecard indicating how members of the 61st session (2005) of the UN Commission on Human Rights voted on resolutions is available here.

RESOURCES

Failing States and Conflict Prevention
A new publication by International Alert and Saferworld entitled “Developing European Union Strategy to Address Failing States” outlines proposals for improving the effectiveness of EU conflict prevention-resolution policies.

OPPORTUNITIES

European Union Democracy Funding
The EU has reopened its request for candidature for its Election Observation Mission in Afghanistan. Full details here.

  The EU has announced the second phase of a call for proposals on "Support for Democracy, Good Governance and the Rule of Law" (further details available here and announced a new call for proposals for democracy and human rights micro-projects in Tajikistan and Syria. More details here.

Democracy Fellowships, Washington, DC
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) welcomes applications to its Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program for fellowships in 2006–2007. Established in 2001, the program enables democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change. The program is intended primarily to support activists, practitioners, and scholars from new and aspiring democracies; distinguished scholars from the United States and other established democracies are also eligible to apply. Projects may focus on the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural aspects of democratic development and may include a range of methodologies and approaches. A working knowledge of English is an important prerequisite for participation in the program. The application deadline for fellowships in 2006–2007 is Tuesday, November 1, 2005. For more information, please email fellowships@ned.org..

Assistant Program Officer, China
International Republican Institute
The International Republican Institute seeks an Assistant Program Officer for its China program.  The APO is responsible for assisting in the daily operations of  IRI's China program (based in DC office).  IRI's China program involves a wide variety of programs to strengthen Chinese reformers in their efforts to promote free and fair elections, to build a more democratic and open civil society, and to institutionalize the rule of law.  IRI programs seek to improve elections by making campaigns more competitive, safeguard citizen participation in local (village) elections, strengthen civil society; support independent research on political reform issues and promote respect for human rights. For a full job description go here.

Project Director, Romania
Freedom House
Freedom House seeks a Project Director for its two and a half years USAID-funded civil society project in Romania. The position will be based in Bucharest. Under the direction of the Regional Director, the Project Director will have primary responsibility over a team to implement this program to strengthen civil society organizations and to help them play their intended role in Romania's democratic transition. Contact Megan Schmidt. Email: humanresources@freedomhouse.org Apply by: July 27, 2005.

Resident Senior Program Manager, Constitutional Development, Sudan
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
NDI seeks a senior program manager with legal expertise in constitutional law to assist in the implementation of the constitutional development and civic education component of its United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded program in southern Sudan. Activities under this program will focus on assisting the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Government of South Sudan (GOSS) leaders with the constitutional drafting process and related civic education program to reflect the will of the populace and the unique political, social and economic circumstances of the region. Full details here. Email: hr@ndi.org. Apply by: August 31, 2005.

CSSI Country Director, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan
IREX(The International Research & Exchanges Board)
IREX seeks US citizen applicants for the position of country director for the Civil Society Support Initiative (CSSI), financed by USAID and administered by IREX. The candidate will administer the country program in either Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. The program provides technical assistance (grants, training, and information resources) to strengthen and enhance the sustainability of indigenous civic organizations in the two countries as well as to improve the legal environment for civil society. Submit cover letter and resume to: Email: resumes@irex.org (please include PTD/CSSI in the subject line) Fax: (202) 628-8189 No phone calls please. EOE

Senior Program Assistant, Political Party Development, Washington, D.C.
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The Senior Program Assistant is an integral member of the Political Party Development team, which supports regional and field teams implementing political party programs. The team provides expertise on political parties and political party assistance. The team also manages international initiatives that specifically promote political party development, and serves as the main contact with party institutes and foundations around the world. More information can be found here. Interested applicants can apply now using our on-line resume tool here. Please cite the exact position title in the cover letter.

MENA Program Research Consultant
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council, a not-for-profit organization devoted to the advancement of social science research and scholarship, seeks to hire a consultant for a research project evaluating U.S. University-based federally-funded Area Studies Centers. The consultancy will be based primarily in New York, and might include short research trips to various U.S. campuses. More information here. Human Resources Research Consultant Social Science Research Council 810 Seventh Avenue New York NY 10019 USA, e-mail: applications@ssrc.org.

Resident Country Director, Almaty, Kazakhstan
International Republican Institute
IRI is seeking a Resident Country Director (RCD), responsible for designing and implementing strategies for IRI's program in Kazakhstan. S/he develops long range and annual plans for the country program, identifies key players and partners in IRI programs, develops strategies for political party capacity-building, coalition-building, election-monitoring and voter education activities and oversees individual project implementation. More information here. Please send resume and cover letter to: IRI, HR Dept/RCD Kazakhstan, 1225 Eye St, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20005 or e-mail to: personnel@iri.org or Fax: 202-408-9462; no phone calls please

Program Officer, Africa, Washington D.C.
International Republican Institute
The Program Officer (PO) is responsible for designing and implementing a strategy for IRI programs in selected countries in the Africa Region. S/he develops long-range and annual plans for the country program(s), identifies potential partner organizations, develops training strategies and oversees project implementation. The Program Officer closely monitors political and economic developments in the country(ies) and develops and maintains the relationship between IRI and country partners and grantees. More information here. Please send resume and cover letter to IRI, Attn: Human Resources 1225 Eye St, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20005 or e-mail to: personnel@iri.org or Fax to Human Resources at 202-408-9462; No phone calls please.

Program Assistant, Africa, Washington D.C.
Center for International Private Enterprise
CIPE seeks a Program assistant, responsible for providing program and administrative support to the Africa division of an international non-profit organization. The incumbent will provide grant management and administrative support to the Africa Program Officer. More information here. Send c.v., cover letter and writing sample to jobs@cipe.org. No phone calls.

EVENTS

July 26, 2005, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C.
Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military
This program provides unprecedented insight into the fascinating political history of this alliance's origins and explores Pakistan's quest for identity and security. Join Husain Haqqani as he discusses these issues with Ambassador Robert B. Oakley, distinguished fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University and former Ambassador to Pakistan and Steve Coll, Washington Post associate editor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Ghost Wars.

July 28, 2005, American Enterprise Institute, Washington D.C.
Uzbekistan and the Bush U.S. policy after Andijon
Following the success of pro-democracy movements in Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Georgia, and Ukraine, what are the implications of the Uzbek crackdown for President George W. Bush's "forward strategy of freedom"? Panelists will be William Kristol (The Weekly Standard), Jennifer Lenoard (International Crisis Group), Martha Brill Olcott (Carnegie Endowment), Chris Seiple (Institute for Global Engagement), S. Frederick Starr (SAIS).

September 28-29, 2005, Gulf Research Center, Dubai.
Current Conditions and Future Prospect of GCC-Iran relations in the wake of Iran's presidential elections.
Gulf Research Center Dubai joint by the University of Durham (UK). More information here.

November 16-17, 2005, Gulf Research Center, Dubai
Democracy and Reform Developments in the GCC states.
More information here.

September 29, 2005, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London
Arab International Women's Forum: The Barcelona Process: Women As Engines Of Economic Growth.
More information here.