The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit
organization that was founded in 1983, to promote democracy by providing
cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S.
Congress. Although administered as a private organization, its funding
comes almost entirely from a governmental appropriation by Congress and
it was created by an act of Congress. In addition to its grants program,
NED also supports and houses the Journal of Democracy, the World
Movement for Democracy, the International Forum for Democratic Studies,
the Reagan-Fascell Fellowship Program, the Network of Democracy Research
Institutes, and the Center for International Media Assistance. It has
been accused by both right-wing and left-wing personalities of
interference in foreign regimes, and of being set up to legally continue
the CIA's prohibited activities of support to selected political
parties abroad. It has been referred to in the non-western media as "CIA
the 2nd."
Current and former directors of the Endowment's Board
include Lee Hamilton of the 9/11 Commission (currently the president and
director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars),
former Congressman Richard Gephardt, Richard Holbrooke, former U.S.
Senator and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Frank Carlucci of the
Carlyle Group, retired General Wesley Clark, Michael Novak of the
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Dr. Francis
Fukuyama of Johns Hopkins SAIS, and U.S. Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana,
former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.
In a 1982
speech at Britain's Westminster Palace, President Ronald Reagan proposed
an initiative "to foster the infrastructure of democracy--the system of
a free press, unions, political parties, universities." The U.S.
government, through USAID (United States Agency for International
Development), contracted The American Political Foundation to study
democracy promotion, which became known as "The Democracy Program." The
Program recommended the creation of a bipartisan, private, non-profit
corporation to be known as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
NED, though non-governmental, would be funded primarily through annual
appropriations from the U.S. government and subject to congressional
oversight.
NED is structured to act as a grant-making foundation,
distributing funds to private non-governmental organizations for the
purpose of promoting democracy abroad. Approximately half of NED's
funding is allocated annually to four main U.S. organizations: the
American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), the Center
for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and the International
Republican Institute (IRI). The other half of NED's funding is awarded
annually to hundreds of non-governmental organizations based abroad
which apply for support. NED's long time president is Carl Gershman,
former Senior Counselor to the United States Representative to the
United Nations and former Executive Director of Social Democrats USA.
According
to the NED's online Democracy Projects Database it has given funding
the following groups for programs relating to Iran (1990-2006): *
American Center for International Labor Solidarity (2005) * Civic
Education and Human Rights (2006) * International Republican
Institute (2005) * Institute of World Affairs (2005) * Iran
Teachers Association (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003) *
Foundation for Democracy in Iran (1995, 1996) * National Iranian
American Council (2002, 2005, 2006) * Womens Learning Partnership
(2003) * Abdorrahaman Boroumand Foundation (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006) * Center for the International Private Enterprise (2004, 2006)
* Vital Voices Global Partnership (2004)
Iranians who have
served as fellows at NED include: * Ali Afshari * Akbar
Mohammadi * Ramin Jahanbegloo * Hossein Bashiriyeh * Haleh
Esfandiari * Siamak Namazi * Ladan Boroumand
