HIGHLIGHTS
Middle Eastern Democrats and
their Vision of the Future 
The dilemmas of reconciling security and human rights, stability and reform, and external and internal drivers for change were the dominant themes running through a conference on Middle East democracy on November 18. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, and Egyptian democrat Ayman Nour were leading speakers at the conference organized by NED, NDI and IRI. [read more]
Innovations for Tomorrow Seminar Series
NED and the Partners for Democratic Change hosted three seminars examining innovations and best practices in democratic development as part of a week-long seminar series, “Innovations for Tomorrow,” in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Partners for Democratic Change. [read more]
 Democracy and Diversity: Dealing with Deep Divides
On November 4, Harvard Professor Emeritus Nathan Glazer delivered the Sixth Annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World. Professor Glazer spoke on the topic Democracy and Diversity: Dealing with Deep Divides. [read more]
North Korean grantees committed to freedom of information 
No matter how hard the North Korean regime attempts to stop the free flow of information into and out of the country, recent North Korean refugees testify that more people inside the country are listening to foreign radio broadcasts and accessing non-North Korean media. Much of this is possible now because of dedicated grassroots NGOs and civil society organizations based in South Korea, particularly those formed and run by North Korean defectors. [read more]
 Documenting Human Rights Violations in North Korea
Representatives from the North Korea Human Rights Database Center, a NED Grantee, were on hand to discuss the 2009 White Paper on North Korean Human Rights at an event co-organized by NED and the US Korea Institute at SAIS on October 8. [read more]
 Democracy, Totalitarianism and the Culture of Freedom:
A memorial symposium honoring the life and work of Leszek Kolakowski
On October 15, NED and the Embassy of Poland hosted a symposium on the legacy of Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, the thinker who, more profoundly than any intellectual since George Orwell, explained the origins and deformities of communist totalitarianism and the threat it posed to human freedom. Zbigniew Brzezinski moderated a discussion featuring Richard Pipes, George Weigel, Abbas Milani, and Nadia Diuk. [read more]
NED Welcomes Four new Board Members
Former U.S. Representative Martin Frost (D-TX), Ambassador Princeton Lyman, Progressive Policy Institute President Will Marshall, and Ambassador Stephen Sestanovich have joined the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). [read more]
Online Application now available for NED Fellowships
The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program has launched its new Online Application System. Applications for fellowships in 2010-2011 are due November 2, 2009, and are now being accepted at http://fellowships.ned.org.
 Richard A.
Gephardt
is new NED Chairman
On January 16, the NED Board of Directors elected former Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt to serve as Chairman. [read more]
| 
