Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
On June 25, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy celebrated its 15th anniversary. Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen and NED president Carl Gershman spoke at the event, which also featured panels on such topics as “Democracy and Freedom Advocacy in the Global Context” and “Threats to Democracy and Freedom in the Asia Context.”
Award Given to Nepali Activist
On August 15 in Kathmandu, the Darnal Award for Social Justice was presented to activist Saraswati Nepali. The award is given biennially in honor of the late Suvash Darnal (1980–2011), a Nepali activist who worked to advance the rights of Dalits and other marginalized groups. Five other activists from the Dalit community were also honored during the ceremony. Speakers from abroad included Andrew Nathan (Columbia University) and Carl Gershman (NED). An op-ed based on Gershman’s speech can be found at http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-08-28/enduring-importance-of-darnal.html.
Nelson Mandela Lecture
On July 17, former U.S. president Barack Obama gave the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. In honor of the centenary of Mandela’s birth, the theme of the lecture was “Renewing the Mandela Legacy and Promoting Active Citizenship in the World.” To view the lecture, please visit: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/annual-lecture-2018.
Havel Library Foundation Honors Liao Yiwu
On September 27, the Václav Havel Library Foundation was scheduled to present Chinese author, musician, and poet Liao Yiwu with the 2018 Disturbing [End Page 186]the Peace Award for a Courageous Writer at Risk. Liao Yiwu is a vocal critic of the Chinese government who was imprisoned for publicly reciting his poem “Massacre” in memory of the victims at Tiananmen Square. He was expected to be joined at the award ceremony in New York by fellow award nominee Liu Xia, wife of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. They both will participate in a panel discussion entitled “The Power of the Powerless in China” with Andrew Nathan of Columbia University and Carl Gershman of NED.
International Press Institute Award
On June 23, the International Press Institute bestowed its World Press Freedom Hero award upon Angolan anticorruption journalist Rafael Marques de Morais. The award is given annually to journalists who have fought courageously to promote press freedom. Marques was unable to travel to Abuja, Nigeria, to accept his award in person because he is currently facing charges for insulting Angola’s former attorney-general in a 2016 article on murky real-estate transactions. Speaking via video, Marques remarked, “This award is not for me. It mirrors the hopes of many Angolans that changes will not come simply from political decisionmaking, but from a growing awareness amongst and stand from civil society.”
Team Populism
Team Populism, which brings together prominent scholars from Europe and the Americas to study the causes and consequences of populism, has published a new policy brief, Populism in Europe and the Americas: What, When, Who, and So What? It addresses such questions as: What is populism? Who is populist? Why does populism matter? Who supports populism and why? Where do populists rise to power? How do we respond to populists in and out of government? The brief, which was prepared at the request of the Transatlantic Relations Initiative of Spain’s IE University, was a contribution to a conference held in Segovia, Spain, on July 6–8, in partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. To read the brief, please visit: https://populism.byu.edu/App_Data/Publications/SegoviaMemo%20_final.pdf.
Ghanaian Scholar Honored
On December 1, the African Studies Association (ASA) is scheduled to give its Distinguished Africanist Award to Ghanaian scholar and Journal of Democracy editorial board member E. Gyimah-Boadi.
The Distinguished Africanist Award is presented annually in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding scholarship in the field of African Studies. The award will be [End Page 187] presented at the annual ASA meeting in Atlanta.
NED’s International Forum
On June 25–27, the Estoril Political Forum brought together more than 300 international participants to address the question of “Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism, and Democracy.” The gathering was organized by the Institute of Political Studies of the Portuguese Catholic University (IEP-UCP) in association with a number of partner organizations, including the International Forum.
The opening panel featured remarks by Amichai Magen (Israel), Daniel Johnson (U.K.), David Goodhart (U.K.), and Ghia Nodia (Georgia). The conference theme was also the subject of the Dahrendorf Memorial Lecture, delivered by William A. Galston of the Brookings Institution, and of the George Washington Memorial Lecture, presented by Clifford Orwin of the University of Toronto. Other prominent speakers at the conference included former Spanish foreign minister Ana Palacio and José Manuel Durão Barroso, the former president of the European Commission.
The conference also included a tribute to Frank Carlucci, former U.S. ambassador to Portugal (1974–77), who passed away on June 3. IEP-UCP Director João Carlos Espada lauded Carlucci as “a great friend of our Portuguese democracy, who made a decisive contribution to make it possible.”
This summer the International Forum hosted several events featuring Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows.
On June 28, Passy Mubalama (Democratic Republic of Congo), a democracy and women’s rights activist, delivered a presentation entitled “Why Women’s Political Participation Matters in the Congo.” Sally Blair of NED served as moderator and Rudy Massamba of NED offered comments.
On July 10, Zimbabwean lawyer and constitutional expert Alex Magaisa delivered a presentation entitled “Elections in Zimbabwe: Autocracy and Stasis, or Democracy and Change?” Natalie Kay of NED served as moderator and Alexander Noyes of CSIS offered comments.
On July 12, María Baron, an Argentine journalist and civil society leader, delivered a presentation entitled “The Difficult Road to Transparency in Latin America.” Enrique Bravo-Escobar of NED served as moderator, and comments were offered by Nicolás Dassen of the Inter-American Development Bank.
A new cohort of fellows is expected to join the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program from October 2018 through February 2019. They include Ladan Boroumand (Iran/United States), Vera Gogokhia (Georgia), Ko Bo Kyi (Burma/Czech Republic), Kyrylo Loukerenko (Ukraine), and George Sarpong (Ghana). [End Page 188]
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