Democracy Digest Democracy Digest
The Bulletin of the Transatlantic Democracy Network - www.demdigest.net

May 5, 2006, Volume 3, Number 2

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Anti-Democracy Backlash Widespread and Threatening, Assembly Hears
The recent World Movement for Democracy assembly offered a vital platform for debate at a "critical turning point in history," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan told delegates gathered in Istanbul. Rather than a clash of civilizations, an alliance of civilizations was required, Erdogan insisted, representing "unity in plurality" with the alliance should have "its address in Europe," with no culture or faith deemed to be "Other." (The next issue of the re-designed Digest will provide a more detailed account of themes and issues raised at the Assembly.)

Political leaders and grass roots activists alike must develop the "nuts and bolts," the technical capacity to translate the dream of democracy, said Club of Madrid president Kim Campbell. Democracy is "not a luxury of intellectual discourse," argued Malaysia's former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, forcefully rejecting the view that some parts of the world were only suitable for soft authoritarianism or illiberal democracy. Polemics on the compatibility of Islam and democracy were now irrelevant, said Ibrahim, rendered redundant by the real-world experience of Muslim democracies in places like Turkey and Indonesia.

Democracy promotion has become accepted as a norm of practice since the early 1990s' third wave of democratization, NED president Carl Gershman told the opening plenary on the backlash against democracy assistance. But a counter-trend of resistance to democracy programs has emerged that differs from the manifestly repressive hostility of long-standing dictatorships which never permitted democracy assistance and routinely repress internal opposition.

The new backlash occurs in countries where democracy assistance has previously been possible and relatively unobstructed. Yuri Dzhibladze of Russia's Centre for Democracy and Development provided a case in point, highlighting the painful irony of Russia assuming the G8 presidency just as it was curbing NGOs and after earlier stifling independent critics in business, parliament and the media. Some 30,000 officials are being recruited to implement the new anti-NGO law which allows the Federal Registration Service to invoke threats to the "constitutional order" to justify ending funding for certain activities and gives officials unprecedented discretion for deeming programs or projects detrimental to Russia's national interests.

Even where legislation is not implemented, the existence of draft provisions can have a chilling and intimidating effect on civil society groups, said Maria Lisitsyna, of Kyrgyzstan's Youth Human Rights Group. Similarly, in Zimbabwe, the NGO Bill has yet to be passed by the legislature, said Reginald Matchaba-Hove of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, but it hangs like a "sword of Damocles" over civil society.

Many states are openly repressive towards independent NGOs while others maintain a more ambiguous position, allowing civil society groups to operate under restrictions and the threat of arbitrary interference or dissolution. Regimes are also adopting more proactive measures, particularly by forming tame, government-organised NGOs or GONGOs. In Venezuela, for example, the Chávez regime has organized a wide range of parallel Chavista groups which deliberately confuse and cloud the issues by taking a pro-government line in international meetings, said Carlos Ponce of the Asociacion Civil Consorcio Justicia.

Authoritarian regimes employ varying rationales to justify repressive measures. A common trend is to claim anti-terrorism as a pretext. It is also common - as in Venezuela and Russia - to claim that NGOs represent alien foreign interests and that democracy promotion is a tool used by advanced democracies to promote their geo-political interests.

The response needs to come at three distinct levels - the tactical, the political, and the normative. Local NGOs and activists are already developing tactics to circumvent restrictions, including reviving techniques used during Soviet times, said Maria Lisitsyna. Regional forms of cross-border assistance through activist groups in neighboring democracies should collaborate and provide aid to besieged colleagues, said Carlos Ponce. Larger NGOs can protect smaller groups by civil society consortia.

Politically, international and multi-lateral organizations should be engaged, particularly at the regional level, such as the OSCE and the OAS. Cross-border engagement sends the message that democracy assistance is not intended to promote the narrow foreign-policy objectives of any particular government. On the normative front, Matchaba-Hove stressed the need to strengthen the values and protocols for protecting civil society at local, national and regional levels. Gershman argued for an international campaign, engaging the Community of Democracies to broaden the acceptance of democracy promotion as an international principle and practice.

A complicating and ominous new factor is the role played by Russia and China in promoting a new authoritarian axis. In making common cause to block the liberal West's efforts to impose sanctions against Sudan and Iran, and to promote democracy in Belarus, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and Burma, argues Robert Kagan, these autocratic powers are generating another round in the conflict between liberalism and autocracy. "No one should be surprised if .... an informal league of dictators has emerged, sustained and protected by Moscow and Beijing," he contends.

MEPs, Democracy Promoters Call for New European Foundation
The European Union needs a more flexible and autonomous instrument for democracy assistance, says a cross-party group of Members of the European Parliament, proposing a new €60 million (US$76m) a year European Foundation for Democracy. The envisaged model reflects earlier demands from leading democracy promotion practitioners for a European Foundation for Democracy through Partnership that is "expert, deniable and flexible" yet based on European values.

Noting that Europe led the way in international democracy assistance, through the German party foundations, the Westminster Foundation's David French and Roel von Meijenfeldt of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy, propose "an operational facility at arms length from [EU] institutions", stressing that democracy assistance "can only be successful when foundations are given authority by their sponsoring/funding bodies to operate independently in fulfilling their mandate."

The European Union's current instruments for promoting democracy, principally the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), with a current budget of €142 (US$180m) million, have been severely criticized for its lack of impact, inflexible procedures, and long lead times. Practitioners say the EIDHR has an "ad-hoc and projectized" rather than strategic approach with the result that "the momentum to support locally driven change processes has often been absent." Opaque, if not inaccessible to local non-state actors, the EIDHR's main beneficiaries have been European NGOs and capital-based "donor darlings" rather than grass-roots initiatives. The EU needs a "flexible funding instrument,.. capable of operating at a greater level of suppleness, responsiveness and risk," argue French and Meijenfeldt.

New member states from the former Communist bloc have been particularly engaged in proposing changes for democracy assistance in the EU's current 2007-2013 budget discussions. Poland and the Czech and Slovak republics have been especially vocal in demanding a more energetic, focused and flexible approach, particularly towards helping activists in non-democratic states. "They need the same kind of help we got from the west during the Cold War," says a senior Czech official.

The Czech Foreign Ministry, for example, has set up led by a Transitions Promotion Unit headed by Gabriela Dlouha, a protégé of Vaclav Havel, which works closely with civil society advocates like People in Need and the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC). This dissident history and heritage helps explain the Czech focus on states like Burma, Tibet, and Cuba - "places that, like the former Czechoslovakia, know what it is like to be at the mercy of authoritarian or totalitarian regimes."

Other EU democracy assistance programs have been stymied by a requirement for host government approval for grants to NGOs. Given that regimes in places like Belarus or Burma are unlikely to approve democracy assistance grants, much of the EU's €9 billion a year foreign aid has muted political impact. "EU funding mechanisms work well in countries that already have a democratic government," says Igor Blazevic, director of the Czech NGO People in Need. "But they are not flexible enough to react to people-power type events in authoritarian countries."

Beijing's Global Activism Gives Cause for Concern .....
China is emerging as a key partner to Russia in an autocratic axis that seeks to stem the liberal West in general and frustrate the advance of democracy in particular. Current U.S. policy, as formulated by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, is to persuade China to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the global system. But a blend of ideological animosity to the democratic West and the country's voracious appetite for energy (China accounted for over 40 percent of the past four years' growth in global oil demand, says the U.S. Energy Information Administration) is leading Beijing into alliances with authoritarian suppliers. Similar calculations are motivating the communist regime to veto meaningful action on security threats and human rights catastrophes in Iran, Sudan, and North Korea.

The recent Washington visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao revealed a slight shift in the balance of power between the US and China: while the latter secured its objectives for the summit - i.e. the status quo on Taiwan and trade - the US realized none of its aims, proving unable to move Beijing on North Korea and Iran. China's intransigence has not only dampened expectations that engagement would generate behavioral change and that Hu Jintao would prove to be a cautious reformer. It is also prompting a reassessment of US and European relations with China.

China's growing global activism is causing concern, with the US Administration particularly vexed at its machinations in Latin America. Prior to Hu's visit, assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas A. Shannon Jr., was dispatched to warn Beijing. "We want to ensure that China respects the larger consensus forged [in Latin America]: that democracy is the system that the region wants to have and supports," said a State Department spokeswoman.

Nor did Beijing make any concessions on human rights or political prisoners during Hu's trip to the U.S., unlike on previous high-level visits. Human rights campaigners had prioritized the cause of several dissidents and political prisoners, including Yang Jianli, a democracy activist and U.S. green card holder, imprisoned since his arrest in April 2002 on espionage charges after illegally entering China. Another high-profile case is that of Shi Tao, a reporter sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2005 for "divulging state secrets." He was found guilty of posting an internal government directive ahead of the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre on the threat posed by former Tiananmen dissidents. Shi Tao's case was one of several cited at a recent US congressional hearing dealing with the role of US-based firms such as Yahoo and Google helping Beijing censor the Internet.

Contrary to those who argue that China's economic growth will ultimately generate political liberalization, Minxin Pei argues that economic success could in fact diminish democratic prospects if the regime's popularity, based on delivering higher living standards, manages to deflate popular pressure for change. With the party elite deeply immersed in - and profiting from - the economy and business, economic growth also enhances the value of political power and creates strong incentives to resist change. Through a process of illiberal adaptation, Pei argues, ruling elites can adjust to the consequences of growth in ways that diminish prospects for political liberalization. Examples would include co-opting new elites or exploiting technology to repress dissent (one survey suggests that China has indeed been "largely successful" at controlling and monitoring internet use, reportedly deploying 30,000 online monitors to do so).

..... As Communists Turn Nationalist to Confront Domestic Tensions
Despite the professed aim of Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to create a "harmonious society," China is wracked by stark social inequalities, environmental degradation, endemic corruption, and pronounced crises in health care, education and social security. Each year of their leadership has seen a "dramatic jump in social unrest," according to Council on Foreign Relations specialists Elizabeth Economy and Adam Segal, with 58,000 protests in 2003, 74,000 in 2004 and 87,000 last year. "Wary of the 'color revolutions' in former Soviet republics, the Public Security Bureau is investigating domestic and international nongovernmental organizations for politically subversive leanings," they report.

While China's economic growth and huge trading volumes are genuinely awesome, there is growing evidence that Beijing's high-GDP-centered development model is unsustainable, says Wenran Jiang of the University of Alberta's China Institute. He argues that rural, urban, and environmental protest movements are now shifting "from localized and isolated events to a widespread and serious social crisis."

Today's peasant protesters constitute a new Tiananmen generation, Radio Free Asia's Jenifer Chou told a recent meeting on democratic prospects in China. Similarly, Princeton-based expert Perry Link cited rural protests and the rise of complaints against corrupt officials as proof of inherently democratic ideals exist amongst the people. "Deep in Chinese culture is the idea of moral propriety, and while Maoism crushed some of this, there is certainly evidence of its revival," he said. But Louisa Coan Greve, China program director for the National Endowment for Democracy, struck a cautious note, telling the meeting that promoting democracy in China has become more difficult, with dissidents forced to act individually rather through organizations.

Democratic advance has been slow and, in many respects, disappointing, concedes Lorne Craner, president of the International Republican Institute. But he highlights the "explosive growth" of civil society, incremental case-by-case consolidation of the rule of law and, above all, the "change in consciousness" of citizens to suggest that the Chinese people are "squeezing themselves through the small spaces opened by the government's concessions."

As a result of these gains, China is "neither a totalitarian state nor a democracy, but rather an authoritarian regime of dubious legitimacy with an uncertain grip on power," notes Aaron Friedberg, a Princeton University professor of politics and international affairs, and formerly Deputy National Security Advisor to US Vice President Dick Cheney. "The Beijing government now bases its claim to rule less on communist principles than on the promise of continued increases in prosperity (and the avoidance of social chaos)," Friedberg writes, "combined with appeals to nationalism."

His view is echoed by China watcher Christopher Hughes of the London School of Economics who believes the ruling Communist Party has "placed nationalism at the centre of its claim to maintain a monopoly on political power ever since the days of Mao Zedong's leadership." For decades, the party has claimed a monopoly on power based on its "credentials as the saviour and guardian of a nation threatened and humiliated by a coalition of enemies, both within and abroad," Hughes suggests.

"Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future," joked nuclear physicist Niels Bohr. Nevertheless, there are at least four principal schools of thought on China's future, argues China analyst Bruce Gilley: no change, neo-authoritarianism, chaos, and democracy. While the latter scenario has least to show for the post-1989 period, a democratic future for China seems the most likely outcome, he contends. But it requires that democracy assistance be targeted towards "undermining rather than shoring up the institutions of power," Gilley argues. "What is needed is the support of NGOs, independent scholars, reform-minded non-party legislators, the free press, and even overseas dissident groups," he writes. "Instead, much effort today goes into training for judges, military officers, party ideologues, and provincial leaders-which comes closer to being 'autocracy assistance' than democracy assistance.'"

Optimists suggest that China and the US will not necessarily enter a strategic rivalry given the coincidence of interests. But, drawing on historical precedent, others are not so sanguine. At the turn of the twentieth century, Aaron Friedberg recalls, observers in Britain and Germany predicted that the two great powers would be "drawn together ineluctably by their growing economic links and societal connections, by a recognition of the underlying compatibility of their strategic interests, and by the eventual convergence of their domestic political systems." Such hopes were but only realized after another half century and two world wars.

Renewed Emergency Law Signals Bleak Prospects in Egypt ....
Egypt's parliament voted this week to renew the state of emergency law that suspends key civil liberties and permits indefinite detention without trial. The two-year extension is a blow to the country's fragile democratic opposition which has been pressing for its repeal. During last year's flawed presidential election campaign, President Hosni Mubarak promised to replace the 25-year-old law with a new measure specifically targeting terrorists. But in opting to renew the old catch-all law, the regime confirmed the widespread conviction that its purported commitment to gradual reform is cosmetic.

The government invoked recent terrorist attacks in Egypt to justify renewing the law but democrats and human rights activists were scornful of that rationale. "The law is used specifically to target the opposition," said George Ishak, coordinator for the pro-democracy Kifaya movement. "The arrest of 48 Kifaya members [under emergency law provisions] - during demonstrations on 27 April proves that." The arrests occurred as baton-wielding police beat demonstrators protesting support for two pro-reform judges, Hesham el-Bastawisy and Mahmoud Mekki, facing a disciplinary hearing at the supreme court for alleging fraud in parliamentary elections last November and December. The two judges, members of the Court of Cassation, the country's highest appellate court, insist that some of their colleagues ignored or committed fraud while monitoring the poll. Tellingly, the protest in defense of the judges was dispersed by more security forces than responded to recent terrorist attacks in Sinai.

The regime is in any case preparing explicitly anti-terrorist legislation which is giving human rights activists further cause for concern. "I am for lifting the state of emergency and amending the existing Emergency Law to define the authorities given to the executive and place it under the supervision of the judiciary," says Hafez Abu Saeda, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. "The current law gives broad authority to [the executive] to impose curfews, tape phone conversations, monitor mail and telegrams," he adds.

...As Democrats Squeezed Between NDP Technocrats and Islamists
Parliamentary opposition to the law's renewal was led by the Muslim Brotherhood. Fear of the Islamists' gaining power led some democrats to place their faith in regime-led incremental change. Some had been persuaded by technocrats within the National Democratic Party that Gamal Mubarak, the president's son and all-but-designated heir, was committed to political reform.

But most are now disillusioned. "There has not been any major, structural change," said Hala Mustafa editor of Democratiya, who joined the ostensibly powerful NDP Policies Committee. Formerly convinced of Gamal's reform credentials, Mustafa is now skeptical: "I don't see anything impeding Gamal Mubarak. The regime is just cloning itself." Similarly, the shock resignation of Osama El-Ghazali Harb, editor of the influential quarterly Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya (International Politics), delivered a further blow to the credibility of the technocrats' project.

The NDP's repressive instincts and authoritarian party culture play into the hands of the resurgent Brotherhood which dominates the political space afforded by the mosque while non-religious parties are constrained by the emergency laws. "The regime has got to take the shackles off the legal parties and let them recover ground so the Brothers don't have it to themselves," says Hugh Roberts, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Democracy activists fear that the US and the West are easing off on pressuring Mubarak to reform. "They are fearing that Islamists would have the power to rule the country and this could be the outcome of fast democratization," says Ahmad Salih, youth coordinator for the Kifaya (Enough) movement. But, he argues, "The only way to have a secular opposition is to give us space for democracy." Groups like Kifaya believe that the lesson to draw from the Brotherhood's success is that "you have to have roots" and a capacity to mobilize beyond the liberal urban elite. But Kifaya recently convened a conference to discuss its own schisms and declining influence, evidenced by its youth wing's drop in membership from over 500 to less than 30.

In some respects, Egypt typifies the democratizing dilemma prevalent throughout the region. "Never before has Arab public interest in political participation, peaceful transfer of power, and good governance been as genuine and far-reaching," argues one analyst. The missing element, says political scientist Amr Hamzawy, when compared with political transformations in Eastern Europe and South America is the presence of a broadly-based democratic opposition "that can contest authoritarian power and force concessions." Egypt's opposition parties-the liberal Al Wafd and Al Ghad parties, leftist Progressive Unionists, and the Nasserists -are structurally weak and lack popular support.

Civil society appears more robust, with approximately 16,000 registered civic associations, but vital social interests are underrepresented or excluded. Neglected by the urban elites, the poor, the marginalized, and rural constituencies are attracted to the Muslim Brotherhood which is rooted in the social and cultural fabric. Unlike the opposition parties, the Brotherhood has the potential to forge "broad alliances for political transformation." As a result, Hamzawy contends, the West should engage with non-violent Islamists on joint projects in civic education, women's empowerment, and local capacity building to "promote mutual trust and moderation within the Islamist spectrum."

Yemen - From Transitional Democracy to . . . .
Washington Post writer David Finkel recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his reports of the National Democratic Institute's tribal democracy program in Yemen. His coverage provided a serious insight, rare in the mainstream media, into the gritty reality of promoting democracy but also confirmed the popular demand for democracy assistance even in the most remote and seemingly inhospitable terrain.

Over the past decade, Yemen pioneered pluralist and inclusive political reform in the Arab world. The first state on the Arabian Peninsula to enfranchise women, Yemen boasts a multi-party electoral system and a successful decentralization process that generated elected local councils in 2001. Yemen's credentials as one of the Arab world's relatively open and pluralist regimes led to its engagement as a partner in the Democracy Assistance Dialogue.

The country's leadership has assiduously sought and cultivated a modernizing reputation in the international community, at least within the Middle East and North Africa. Its reputation is not without merit. Since unification, Yemen has held direct elections for parliament in 1993, 1997, 2003; for president in 1999; and for local councils in 2001; established a technically proficient electoral administration, the Supreme Commission for Election and Referenda (the international community is pressuring the SCER to implement electoral reforms recommended after the 2003 elections); permitted, with qualifications, a multiparty system; and allowed a degree of freedom of expression unknown in most other Arab states.

The regime still tolerates opposition parties and independent newspapers but recent attacks on journalists, rampant corruption and ambiguities in its anti-terrorist stance have undermined its position. A new press law, which severely restricts press freedom, has been drafted a few months before September's presidential elections. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has announced that he will not stand for re-election but, to nobody's surprise, he is facing pressure to run from his ruling General People's Congress party. Saleh made the same claim prior to the country's first ever direct presidential elections in 1999 which he won with 96 per cent of the vote in an election marred by intimidation, underage voting, and vote-buying, according to the Washington-based National Democratic Institute.

Corruption is endemic. Yemen was ranked 112th in Transparency International's 2005 corruption index. One example: the individual appointed to run the principal anti-corruption agency, the Central Organization for Control and Auditing (COCA), was appointed while awaiting trial for fraud. After being dismissed again for fraud while running COCA, he was subsequently appointed to lead the Judicial Inspection Board to guarantee the integrity of judges.

Earlier this year, 23 terrorist suspects escaped from a high-security prison in Sana'a, including Jamal al-Badawi, the alleged mastermind of the USS Cole bombing in 2000, which killed 17 US naval personnel. Informed observers consider the escape could only have been effected with the acquiescence of the Political Security Organization (PSO), Yemen's internal intelligence agency that answers directly to Saleh.

Visiting Washington last November, Saleh was told that Yemen was in-eligible for financial assistance through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), designed for countries "ruling justly, investing in their people and encouraging economic freedom." The immediate cost of the decision - some $20-$30 million - is dwarfed by the loss of hundreds of millions more in long-term assistance. The MCA links aid to a state's performance on 16 indicators, including civil liberties and "control of corruption."

Saleh has responded to criticism by courting China. After a recent visit to Beijing, he pointedly remarked that China does not interfere in the internal affairs of countries, in contrast to the "dictates and conditional support" from the West. The regime needs to develop new forms of legitimacy and support as it faces the prospect of dwindling oil revenues that lubricated the wheels of patronage and "compromise among the disparate interests of tribal groups, Islamists, socialists, Saudi Arabia and the West."

. . . Failing State?
Providing further evidence that democracy promotion is often a Sisyphean task, Yemen, once considered a promising transitional democracy, is reportedly regressing so dramatically that it is approaching failed-state status, with major donors insisting on radical reform. The country is on "a dagger's edge, precariously balanced between forces of modernization and the pull of powerful traditionalists," says one observer. The view is echoed by a U.S. official: "Yemen is teetering on the edge of failed statehood. It will either become a Somalia or get serious about transforming." A leading Arab journalist warns of "an Afghan scenario."

Rifts within the ruling elite have produced a "palpable sense of foreboding" about Yemen's future, says one observer. Sheikh Abdallah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, speaker of the Yemeni parliament, head of Islah, the largest and best-organized opposition party, and the leading sheikh of Yemen's most powerful tribal group, recently declared that he was "leaving [Yemen] to Ali Abdallah Salih and his sons," in a gesture read as one of resigned abdication. The Joint Meeting Party (JMP), a six-party coalition including Islah, has not announced a candidate for president or declared their intent to do so. This "fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines" is considered a defining characteristic of failing states.

Yemen's democratization efforts already faced severe obstacles, including a tribal culture of power, "which accepts pluralism in form and in legislation, but rejects it in practice," according to a report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Political parties and parliament are too weak to act as a check on presidential power, a recent reform meeting organized by the Sana'a office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung heard. The regime was criticized for relying on tribal leaders rather than political parties after the 1998 riots.

Few countries have a recent history as volatile as Yemen, notes Mark N. Katz, including revolution and civil war in the North (1962-70), revolution in the South (1963-1967), intra-Yemeni border wars (1972, 1979), insurgency in the North (1978-82), civil war in the South (1986), and post- unification civil war (1994). Desertification, lack of fresh water, soaring unemployment and illiteracy make Yemen one of the world's poorest states, with almost half the population living in poverty, and one of the highest birth rates: almost half the population is under 16 years old.

The country's fractious history has impeded the emergence of a consolidated and effective political structure. Communities and population centers are scattered, resulting in weak central government control over remote areas, as illustrated by recent violence between the government, religious and tribal factions in the northern province of Sa'ada. Tribal allegiances, religious and kinship factors are politically significant, with significant influence over political constituencies and candidate selection.

"Claiming that he is overseeing democratization, Saleh has raised expectations among Yemenis that there should be democracy," says Katz, a professor of government and politics at George Mason University. "Voluntarily transferring power to an elected successor would be his greatest legacy," he argues, serving as an example to the Arab world. But it is possible, if not likely, that Saleh will either renege on his promise not to stand or engineer the election of his eldest son, Ahmed, currently the commander of both the Yemeni Republican Guard and Special Forces.

But Yemen's relatively vibrant civil society and beleaguered democrats are proving resilient. Female social worker Sumaia Ali Raja has joined several opposition exiles as candidates in Yemen's presidential elections, an historic first in a society in which some 80% of women are illiterate. Yemeni reformist Dr. Elham Mane'a, a regular contributor to the Arab liberal website Metatransparent, remains a relatively rare male voice in arguing for improvement in women's status.

The Forum of Civil Society has demanded higher standards of conduct, transparency, good governance, and the rule of law. The Central Organization for Controlling and Audit exposed 55 cases of corruption in the first half of 2005 alone and 68 cases last year, involving "billions of US dollars" Reformers are also demanding that the Supreme Judicial Council modernize the judiciary and adopt plans to help women get appointed to the both the judiciary and the SJC.

Yet political leaders' actions and rhetoric have at least created popular expectations of reform and openness and the public remains supportive of democracy. The government is under renewed pressure to address issues of economic development and civil service reform institutions following riots against cuts in petrol subsidies and renewed parliamentary efforts to exert oversight over the executive. A recent cabinet reshuffle was seen, in part, to be a response to domestic pressure as well as demands from the international community. The 2006 local and presidential elections are an opportunity for citizens to hold elected officials accountable; for the SCER to address grievances filed after the 2003 elections; and for political parties to present policies that resonate at local and national levels.

If nothing else, David Finkel's choice of NDI's pioneering work in Yemen for his Pulitzer Prize-winning reports serves as a reminder of the scale of the task. "We don't know yet how best to promote democracy in the Arab Middle East," as deputy assistant secretary of state J. Scott Carpenter put it. "It's the early days."

Concern Grows for Detained Iranian Intellectual
A leading Canadian-Iranian intellectual, Ramin Jahanbegloo, was arrested at Tehran airport last week. Dr. Jahanbegloo is a well-known Canadian-Iranian intellectual and former Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, with doctorates from the Sorbonne and Harvard. The latest disturbing reports suggest he has been hospitalized.

Mohsen Kadivar, a leading dissident cleric described the arrest as "the height of lawlessness and insecurity." Kadivar was speaking in Tehran at a journalists' awards ceremony honoring the writer Akbar Ganji, who was recently released from jail. The pro-regime Fars news agency quoted the head of the prison service confirming that Jahanbegloo is being detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

Jahanbegloo, head of the department for contemporary studies at Iran's Cultural Research Bureau, was critical of the Iranian regime but was more interested in "reform than revolution," said Amir Hassanpour, a Middle Eastern studies professor at Toronto University. A former student of liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin, Jahanbegloo advocated gradual reform through the development of civil society.

The hardline Ressalat newspaper claimed Jahanbegloo had served as a "link between monarchists inside and outside the country" while the conservative Islamic Kayhan paper said he had "signed petitions by counter-revolutionary groups." In an article for the Spanish newspaper El Pais earlier this year, Jahanbegloo challenged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim that the Holocaust was a myth. "No one is free from blame for not knowing what happened in Auschwitz's gas chambers, nor are those who voluntarily close their eyes before the true essence of horror," he wrote.

Iran's largest reformist party expressed concern about the detention of Jahanbegloo and the lack of information from the authorities. "We are very concerned about his fate," said Saeed Shariati, spokesman for the Islamic Iran Participation Front. "Given the experience that we have had in the past, we call on the judiciary to explain and accord him with all the rights of individual citizens."

Shahram Golestaneh, president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran, is urging the Canadian government to take immediate action to secure Mr. Jahanbegloo's release. "Quiet diplomacy won't work," he said, arguing that Tehran responds only to direct pressure. "We don't want to have the same situation as it was with Zahra Kazemi. If we have to do something earlier rather than later, we should do it," said Shahram Golestaneh, president of Canada's Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran.

Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Kazemi died in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003, three weeks after being was arrested for taking photos outside a Tehran prison following student protests. A security agent was acquitted of "quasi-intentional murder" and the judiciary said Kazemi's head injuries resulted from an "accident." But a former physician in Iran's defence ministry later revealed that he had examined Kazemi in hospital, four days after her arrest and found signs of torture, including evidence of rape, a fractured skull, broken fingers, missing fingernails, and a broken nose.

In a recent article, Canadian Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff described giving a lecture on human rights and democracy at Tehran's Cultural Research Bureau. "My Iranian host, Ramin Jahanbegloo, works in a tiny shared office at the bureau, invited foreign guests and building up a small circle of free-minded students whom he lectures on European thought," he wrote. "Jahanbegloo says he thinks of himself as a bridge between Iran and (western) universities and invites philosophers to give talks to students. "He sees some signs that their ideas are gaining a toehold in Tehran," Ignatieff noted.

Vietnam Strikes Highlight Bankrupt Ideology
Vietnam's embattled communists held their 5-yearly party congress last week, reeling from revelations of high-level corruption and with its proletarian credentials in tatters after a wildcat strike wave by thousands of workers demanding better pay and working conditions. The party also faces demands from the European Union to release pro-democracy cyber-dissidents.

Secretary general Nong Duc Manh told the Communist Party congress that rampant corruption was threatening the "survival of our regime." A multi-million dollar gambling scandal recently forced the transport minister to resign. The party has been forced to relax strict party discipline, allowing a degree of internal criticism and dissidence.

But the country's endemic corruption is unlikely to be overcome without radical democratic reform since the executive, legislature and judiciary are all controlled by the same clique of apparatchiks. "These bodies do not operate independently from the party and can only act when high-level leaders give the go-ahead," notes a leading analyst, "making the exposure of corruption a highly politicized and arbitrary affair."

In the run-up to its 10th National Party Congress, leading dissident Thich Quang Do called on the ruling communists to allow workers the right to form independent trade unions. In the textile industry alone, over 140,000 workers took in 150 strikes in the first two months of 2006, twice the total number of strikes in 2005. Ho Chi Minh City, which plays host to over 700 foreign firms, employing over 130,000 workers, experienced 47 strikes - some violent - between December and January, of which 25 were at foreign-invested companies. Workers' bargaining leverage has been buoyed by demand for their labour, with at least a quarter of foreign-invested companies in Vietnam experiencing labour shortages, according to official sources.

The strike wave started at foreign-owned factories in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province in January but quickly spread to central and northern cities, including Hue, Hanoi and Hai Phong. Workers' demands included "the right to meet privately...to form a union, to raise funds, to strike to demand our legitimate rights [and] an appropriate salary commensurate with our labor." Vietnamese human rights activists, both within and outside the country, have expressed solidarity with the workers.

The regime's official Marxist orthodoxy still pays ritual obeisance to the historical mission and vanguard role of the working class, and not without reason. Official statistics indicate that while industrial workers constitute only 13 percent of Vietnam's population and some 23 percent of the workforce, it contributes over 40 percent of GDP and 60 percent of the state budget.

The spontaneous "wildcat" nature of the strikes has disturbed the authorities, and official news agencies were obliged to express sympathy rather than condemnation. Although strikes are legal, workers are supposed to get authorization 20 days before downing tools. The disputes highlighted workers' discontent with the official unions, grouped under the Vietnamese General Confederation of Labor which, in line with communist orthodoxy, functions as a transmission belt for the ruling communist party. The VGCL claims to represent 95 per cent of public sector workers but only 10% of the workforce is unionized.

Hanoi's fears of a Solidarnosc-like alliance between workers and intellectuals has prompted a recent clampdown on human rights activists, particularly "cyber-dissidents." But the regime lacks both the technology to block all websites and the personnel to monitor Internet addresses, says Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a leading democracy advocate and author of the manifesto of the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights and, more recently, a "road map" for Vietnam's democratization. Nevertheless, Europe's commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, pushed for the release of jailed dissidents when she met Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien during last week's visit to Hanoi.

Vo Van Ai, president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights asked to appeal for the release from house arrest of detained Buddhist dissidents Thich Huyen Quang, 86, and Thich Quang Do, 77. Quang, leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), and his deputy Do have spent decades under effective house arrest for promoting religious freedom and human rights. Quang Do, and dissident Communist Party veteran Hoang Minh Chinh received the "Democracy Courage Tribute" at the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul (2-5 April).

Media rights watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) also wrote to Ferrero-Waldner, urging her to push for the release of jailed cyber-dissidents Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Vu Binh, Truong Quoc Tuan, Truong Quoc Huy and Lisa Pham. RSF said three of the cyber-dissidents were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City last October after discussing democracy in an online forum. They have not been heard from since. Son was arrested in March 2002 for espionage after translating articles about democracy and posting them online, said RSF. Son was now seriously ill. Binh, a former journalist with a communist newspaper, was accused of consorting with "subversive dissidents" and for attacking a Chinese-Vietnamese border agreement.

Nguyen Dan Que agrees with Dr. Doan Viet Hoat, the veteran human rights activist known as "Vietnam's Sakharov," that the country's membership in the World Trade Organization, for which it is currently campaigning, should be conditional on respecting human rights. "Opening up economically is not enough to help open the political and cultural areas and activities of the people," says Doan, citing China's example.

Like many other regimes enamored of the Chinese model, the Hanoi authorities are trying to fashion a hybrid system - opening the economy while controlling society. But "if the experience of the former Solidarity movement in Poland is any indication," says one observer, "don't be surprised to witness the fall of another communist regime by the hands of the very people it was supposed to defend and protect."


NEWS IN BRIEF

Leading Kyrgyz Democrat Attacked
Prominent civil society activist Edil Baisalov was seriously assaulted near his office in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on April 12. Baisalov, leader of the For Democracy and Civil Society Coalition, has been a vocal critic of the growing power of organized crime and its penetration of state institutions since the March 2005 Tulip Revolution. Baisalov had recently returned from the World Movement for Democracy assembly in Istanbul.

Singapore Exposes its Ersatz Democracy, Again
Singapore democrat Chee Soon Juan, was barred from traveling to the World Movement for Democracy's Istanbul assembly when immigration agents impounded his passport. Chee, secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party, was declared bankrupt after he failed to pay S$500,000 ($310,000) in libel damages following a punitive defamation suit by former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. Bankrupts cannot leave Singapore without permission from the Official Assignee's office. The issue now threatens to split the SDP.

Prospects for Muslim Democracy Features in Scholars Program
What will be the shape of democracy in the Muslim world and who will be the likely spokespeople of Islam in the political process? These are just two of the questions to be examined through a major Carnegie scholarship by Vali Nasr, an expert on Muslim political and social developments. Nasr argues, most recently in the Journal of Democracy, that the "strategic middle" - secular political agendas and pragmatic Islamic concerns - will come to dominate Muslim societies, confirming the compatibility of Muslim values, practical election strategies and democratic outcomes.

JOD Highlights Anti-Democratic Backlash
The Journal of Democracy's April 2006 issue includes articles - freely available on the JOD website -- covering "Identity, Immigration, and Liberal Democracy," by Francis Fukuyama, "The Assault on Democracy Assistance" by Carl Gershman and Michael Allen, and "Democracy's Doubles" by Ivan Krastev. The full text of these articles is available online at http://www.journalofdemocracy.org.

Gershman and Allen draw on analysis from the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law to contend that authoritarians are accelerating their offensive against democracy promotion, and outline how democracy-assistance organizations should rise to meet the challenge. Krastev argues that from Putin's Russia to Chávez's Venezuela, regimes that claim to be democracies but act like autocracies are emerging as a major long-term threat to freedom. Fukuyama contends that contemporary liberal democracies, especially in Western Europe, face a major challenge in integrating Muslim immigrants as citizens of pluralistic societies.

For more information, please visit the Journal of Democracy online or e-mail jod@ned.org.


RESOURCES

Democratizing the Middle East?
Video presentations by Mahnaz Afkhami, President, Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, and Larry Diamond of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy, amongst others, from a two-day conference sponsored at Tufts University, can be downloaded here.

Counteracting Extremism in Russia
The Moscow-based SOVA Center for Information and Analysis invites subscriptions to a new discussion list on "Democracy, Human Rights, and Counteraction to Extremism." Ethnic, national, racial, and religious extremism and intolerance are on the rise today in Russia. The SOVA Center hopes to receive advice, information, and opinions on countering such trends from colleagues in other countries. To subscribe to the list, please e-mail averh@sova-center.ru and annap@ned.org with a brief introduction and indication of your interest in the subject.

The Demosphere Manifesto
The Demosphere Manifesto, a proposal to create an international digital democracy network, has been developed by Mary Joyce, a democracy activist and former NDI staffer. The demosphere will be a digital ecosystem of blogs, websites, and digital citizens who want to empower local democracy movements around the world. The demosphere will connect digital citizens to local movements as tech-savvy "bridge activists" link the knowledge and political experience available on the internet to grass roots activists and learn from one another and peer-to-peer networks facilitating a cross-pollination of democracy-building strategies and techniques from country to country.

You can "sign" the manifesto digitally on the Demologue.com website (in French or English). Please also support the manifesto's posting on ChangeThis.com. If the proposal gets 300 votes by May 25th, it will be made permanently available on the site for others to use and find. To vote for the proposal, click "here and then click the "Yes, write this manifesto button."


OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships
The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy welcomes applications from candidates throughout the world for fellowships in 2007-2008. 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 Wednesday, November 1, 2006.

The International Republican Institute is recruiting for various vacancies. Further details here.

The National Democratic Institute is recruiting for various vacancies. Further details here.

European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights
The EIDHR has launched the following calls for proposals on fostering a culture of human rights and promoting the democratic process: Fostering a Culture of Human Rights in Belarus. Open (until 13.06.2006); Promoting the Democratic Process in Congo (open until 10.05.2006); Cote-d Ivoire; Ethiopia (open until 08.05.2006) Haiti; Kazakhstan; Palestinian Authority; Tajikistan; and Zimbabwe (open until 30.05.2006) Further details here.

Global Integrity - Paid Researchers
Global Integrity is a new organization that has developed out of an initiative by the Center for Public Integrity "to track and report on openness, accountability, and the rule of law" in countries around the world. In 2004 Global Integrity published its first Global Integrity Index, a pilot covering 25 countries. Based on the success of this effort, the project intends to publish a second index in 2006 that may include as many as 100 countries. Global Integrity is in the final phase of recruiting scholars, analysts, and journalists based within these 100 potential countries to serve as paid researchers on a variety of factors relating to openness, accountability, and the rule of law. Researchers will complete quantitative scorecards and reporters' notebooks which will be subsequently reviewed by smaller teams of expert readers in order to assess the data and edit the research. Global Integrity is looking for qualified and motivated experts, inviting journalists, social scientists, and academic experts from any country with expertise in governance and corruption issues to send a resumé/curriculum vitae (including full contact information and three references) to nfo@globalintegrity.org expressing their interest in joining the 2006 team. They are looking for one lead reporter to write the Reporter's Notebook, one lead social scientist or academic expert to score the Integrity Indicators, and 3-5 readers for each country. Experts' independence from corporate or government influence is a critical qualification; a working proficiency in English is strongly preferred but not essential.

US Fellowship for Mideast Reformers
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) has announced a Democracy Fellowship Programme for emerging leaders across the Middle East and North Africa. The 4-month programme will provide opportunities for nearly participants to complete both academic course work and a skill-building internship in their field of choice in the United States. The fellowship will begin in January 2007 with a four-week academic programme at a prestigious American university. After completing the academic portion of the programme, fellows will engage in a three-month internship with a political, non-government or public organisation of professional interest. The fellowship will cover all international and domestic travel, health insurance, housing and a moderate living stipend. Applicants should have at least five years' experience working as a professional in a political reform-oriented field and demonstrable commitment to remaining in the field for the foreseeable future. Applicants should have a bachelor's degree with fluency in English language to function in an American academic and professional environment.

Program Assistant for Cuba Programs - Washington, D.C.,Freedom House
Freedom House, the independent non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, seeks a Program Assistant for its Cuba programs. The position is based in Washington, DC. The tasks of the program assistant will include: promoting and reporting on Cuba programs; maintaining databases; participating in discussions pertaining to program design and implementation; providing research and administrative assistance; assisting in financial management responsibilities; and other administrative duties as assigned. Experience with Latin America and/or Communist countries is a must. Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is required. Please send resume and cover letter with salary history to: Mary Browse Davis Human Resources Generalist, humanresources@freedomhouse.org. 1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Floor 6 / Washington, DC, 20036, Fax: 202-293-2840 Apply by: May 12, 2006

Research Assistant - New York, NY, Freedom House
Freedom House is seeking a Research Assistant for its New York office. The principal responsibility of the Research Assistant will be to provide research, logistical, and administrative assistance to the research staff. The candidate should have strong editing, writing and proofreading skills, and should be able to multi-task. Duties will include, but are not limited to: providing research assistance for studies and reports, assisting in the administrative and editorial coordination of studies and reports, assisting in the drafting of fundraising proposals, maintaining distribution lists for studies and reports, and other duties as assigned. Start date for position will be July 2006. Please submit resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to: Mary Browse Davis Human Resources Generalist humanresources@freedomhouse.org. Fax: (202) 822-3893. Deadline May 12, 2006.

Program Assistant, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Washington, D.C
The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law facilitates and supports the development of civil society and the freedom of association in countries around the world. Working with local partners, and supported by both public and private funders, ICNL helps develop an enabling legal environment for civil society in countries around the world. The Program Assistant is expected to support ICNL's activities globally. Under the direction of ICNL's President, or his designee, the Program Assistant will undertake the following duties, among others:1) Program Related: provide support to the ICNL staff to ensure prompt and professional work product; assist with the development of proposals, budgets, and other project documents; organize and maintain files; research and write on pertinent issues affecting civil society; 2) Finance Related: prepare and implement contracts and subgrants; monitor transfer requests and submit requests to Finance Office; monitor country specific and regional budgets for various programs. Qualifications: college degree; advanced degree or at least 2 years of professional experience preferred; self-directed and able to initiate activities; excellent organizational and English writing skills as well as detail orientation; proficient in all Microsoft Office Suite applications; familiarity with Macromedia DreamWeaver and Adobe PageMaker is an advantage; and familiarity with USAID requirements is an advantage. Compensation: Competitive salary and fringes, based on experience and qualifications. To apply, please send your curriculum vitae and cover letter to: Erin Means, Program Officer, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, 1126 16th Street, NW Suite 400. Washington, DC 20036, 202-452-8555 (fax) or e-mail: means@icirl.org.

South Asia Senior Program Officer - Washington, DC, National Democratic Institute
NDI is seeking to hire a Senior Program Officer to support the Institute's programs in South Asia. The Senior Program Officer will work as part of a team to assist in developing and implementing NDI's programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The position will be based in Washington, D.C. and is available immediately. For full details go here or email: hr@ndi.org.

IREX (The International Research & Exchanges Board), Chief of Party, Belgrade, Serbia
IREX is a US nonprofit organization specializing in higher education, independent media, and civil society programs in the United States, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia. IREX seeks applicants for the position of Chief of Party (COP) to lead a 5-year, multi-million dollar, Civil Society Advocacy Initiative. The program will support and strengthen Serbian civil society to influence public policy, effectively represent citizen's interests, serve as government watchdogs and conduct sustained advocacy campaigns. Full details here. Email: resumes@irex.org. Apply by: May 17, 2006

Researcher on North Korea - Seoul, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is seeking a Researcher on North Korea who will be based in Seoul, South Korea and will monitor, document and investigate human rights developments in North Korea in order to publicize and curtail human rights abuses through writing and advocacy. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, monitoring and documenting human rights abuses in North Korea; collecting and analyzing information on human rights developments from a wide variety of sources including the local media, NGOs, journalists, diplomats and others in the field. Full details go here. Contact Information: Jo-Anne Prud'homme Email: prudhoj@hrw.org Apply by: May 11, 2006

Chief of Party - Islamabad, Pakistan/ Voter Registration Specialist - Islamabad, Pakistan, IFES
The objective of IFES' Pakistan Election Support Project is to strengthen the electoral process in Pakistan, and support the conduct of the elections to be held in 2007. Full details here. Applications will be accepted online only, through the IFES website. To apply visit IFES careers webpage and click on the link for this position. Then follow the instructions on how to upload your resume and answer prescreening questions. Apply by: May 15, 2006

Director - Washington, DC, Partners for Democratic Change
Partners has grown over the past few years necessitating broad leadership in its Washington, D.C., to manage its extensive relationships and a build an effective approach to achieve further success for Partners' mission. Partners seeks a full-time Director for its Washington, D.C., Office to effectively liaise with diverse clients, organizations, government offices, and foundations; contribute to new business development; and oversee daily operations of the D.C. Office contributing to overall organizational strategic goals. Full details here. Contact Information: Belisa de las Casas Email: bdelascasas@partnersglobal.org. Apply by: June 30, 2006.

Program Coordinator for Africa and the Middle East - Berlin, Germany, Transparency International
Transparency International (TI), the civil society organisation leading the global fight against corruption, seeks a Programme Coordinator, Africa and the Middle East. The Africa and Middle East Department (AFME) is one of the four regional departments of Transparency International Secretariat (TI-S). Full details here. Starting date: 1 July 2006 or sooner if possible. Detailed applications (in English) giving full particulars of qualifications and experience, biographical data, salary expectations, and the names and contact details of three referees should be sent preferably by email to: afmejob@transparency.org or: Human Resources Department Transparency International Alt Moabit 96 10559 Berlin, Germany. Closing date is 12 May 2006. Late applications may be considered if the position has not been filled.

Program Officer for International Relations, Millennium Challenge Corporation
The http://www.mca.gov/ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a new U.S. Government corporation whose mission is to provide assistance that will support economic growth and poverty reduction in carefully selected developing countries that demonstrate a commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizenry. Full vacancy details here. Contact Information: Jean St. Pierre Phone: (202) 521-3731 Email: stpierrej@mcc.gov. Apply by: July 1, 2006

Country Director for Operations, Africa, Morocco - Washington, DC, United States, Millennium Challenge Corporation
The Department of Operations manages MCC's relationship with eligible countries and maintains continuous contact with eligible countries for all phases of the relationship: proposal development, proposal due diligence, compact negotiation and compact implementation. Full vacancy details here. Contact Information: Kate Cichanowski Phone: (202) 521-3728 Email: cichanowskik@mcc.gov. Apply by: July 1, 2006

Resident Country Director for Operations, Africa, Mali - Washington, DC, Millennium Challenge Corporation
Full vacancy details here. Contact Information: Kate Cichanowski Phone: (202) 521-3728 Email: cichanowskik@mcc.gov. Apply by: June 10, 2006


EVENTS

May 5-6. Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy 7th Annual Conference: The Challenge of Democracy In the Muslim World.
Sessions include Democratization in the Muslim World, Media and Democratization, and Islamists and Democratization. Keynote speakers: Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice (Invited); Carl Gershman, National Endowment for Democracy; Karen Hughes, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy (invited); Saad Dine el Otmani, Secretary-General, Party of Justice and Development, Morocco; Peter F. Mulrean (Middle East Partnership Initiative, Department of State) MEPI and Democracy Promotion: What Did We Learn?; Laith Kubba ( former spokesman for the Iraqi government, National Endowment for Democracy Program Director) on "Lessons from Iraq: What went right and what went wrong?" A rich program includes over 40 speakers and panelists from many countries, who will address the challenge of democracy and democratization in the Muslim world. Program and registration form available here. You may also register online here.

May 9. One Year After Andijon: What's Next For Uzbekistan
The conference, sponsored by Freedom House, RFE/RL, National Endowment for Democracy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and other human rights organizations, will include panels addressing the massacre of civilians in Andijon, the continued deterioration of human rights in Uzbekistan over the last year, and the policy challenges facing the United States and other governments. Place: U.S., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW - Washington D.C. 20036-2103.

May 9-11. 7th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees, Bergen, Norway
The Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and the Rafto Human Rights House will host the 7th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees in Bergen, Norway. Organizers: Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, 4th fl. Shimji Building 10-22 Gyobuk-dong Chongno-gu Seoul 110-090 South Korea, AND Rafto Human Rights House, Menneskerettighetenes Plass 1, 5007 Bergen. Sponsors: National Endowment for Democracy, USA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway, Trond Mohn, Norway, Chosun Ilbo, South Korea For additional information, e-mail: nkhuman@nkhumanrights.or.kr or nkconference@raftohuset.no. Conference websites: here and here. Registration: here.

May 15. China's NGOs: Independent Actors or Government Puppets?
Hongying Wang, Syracuse University and Wilson Center Fellow; Joseph Fewsmith, Boston University; Jennifer Turner, Wilson Center; John Callebut, Center for International Private Enterprise. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004-3027, 3:30 to 5:30 pm.

May 17. The EU's Democracy Promotion Dilemmas
Jacques Rupnik, Director of Research, Center for International Studies and Research at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris and currently Visiting Professor at the Department of Government, Harvard University. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004-3027, 12:00 to 1:00 pm.

May 23. Russian Civil Society: A Critical Assessment
Alfred B. Evans, Jr., Professor, Department of Political Science, California State University, Fresno; Laura Henry, Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Legal Studies, Bowdoin College; Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004-3027, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

June 29-July 1.Democracy & Independence: Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World, University of Massachusetts Amherst
This summit aims to unite media, political, education, technology sectors in charting the future of journalism. For full details and to register here.

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