New School Conference
On February 8–9 the New School for Social Research, as part of its celebration of the New School’s centennial, hosted a conference on “Liberalism and Democracy: Past, Present, Prospects.” The second of two conferences, it was organized by James Miller, professor of politics at the New School, and Helena Rosenblatt, professor of history at CUNY Graduate Center, which cosponsored the event. A keynote address on “The New School and the American Ideal of a Liberal Democracy” was delivered by Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia.
Other speakers included Paul Cartledge (Cambridge), E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), Ben Fountain (novelist), William Galston (Brookings), Jeffrey Isaac (Indiana), James Kloppenberg (Harvard), Bill Kristol (The Bulwark), Paul Krugman (New York Times), Natasha Lennard (The Intercept), Yuval Levin (National Affairs), Marc Plattner (Journal of Democracy), Rogers Smith (U. of Pennsylvania), and Michael Tomasky (Democracy journal). For further information, please visit https://events.newschool.edu.
Global Populisms
On March 1–2, the Europe Center at Stanford University held a conference on “Global Populisms and Their International Diffusion.” The conference included five panels: “How is Democracy Threatened?” chaired by Anna Grzymala-Busse; “Russia’s Global Efforts” chaired by Francis Fukuyama; “Comperative Perspectives on International Diffusion” chaired by Larry Diamond; “Coming Attractions: The Changing Nature of the Threats” chaired by Maragret Levi; and “The War at Home? Domestic Aspects of Global Diffusion” chaired by Didi Kuo.
Other speakers included Henry Farrell (George Washington University), Seva Gunitsky (U. of Toronto), Laura Rosenberger [End Page 188] (German Marshall Fund), Joshua Tucker (New York University), Lucan Way (U. of Toronto), Alina Polyakova (Brookings Institution), Michael McFaul (Stanford University), Pauline Jones (U. of Michigan), and Vikram Singh (Center for American Progress). For more information, please visit https://tec.fsi.stanford.edu/content/global-populisms-and-their-international-diffusion.
International Campaign for Tibet
On February 12, the International Campaign for Tibet hosted the “Thank You America” event celebrating 60 years of U.S. support for Tibetan human rights. Speakers included Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Representatives Jim McGovern, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Betty McCollum, Ben McAdams, and Tom Suozzi; Samuel Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom; Matteo Mecacci, president of the International Campaign for Tibet; and Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy.
The Dalai Lama offered a video message, saying “America has been there for us and has supported our just cause sincerely right from the start.” Representative McGovern stated, “Bipartisan support for the rights of the Tibetan people is strong and is not going away. I hope the Chinese government is able to hear that message.” Speaker Pelosi added, “thank you to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the people of Tibet … and to the Tibetans in the diaspora, who are working so hard to preserve the culture, the language, the religion … [of Tibet].”
Fifteenth Annual Lipset Lecture
Anwar Ibrahim delivered the fifteenth annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on February 11 and at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto on February 14. Ibrahim is the leader of Malaysia’s ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition and the president of the People’s Justice Party, and he is widely expected to succeed Mahathir Mohammad as prime minister. The lecture, which had been originally scheduled for the fall, was entitled, “Confronting Authoritarianism,” and an article based on it appears on pp. 5–14 above.
Nadia Diuk (1954–2019)
Nadia Diuk, vice president for programs on Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy and a frequent contributor to the [End Page 189] Journal of Democracy, died on January 23 at the age of 64. The previous day, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko awarded Diuk the Order of Princess Olga, one of Ukraine’s highest honors. Ukrainian ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly wrote in a public letter to Diuk, “The Presidential Act bestowing the award upon you is a testament to and a recognition of your long-time active efforts to help Ukraine … [and] the indisputable repute that you have amassed both in Ukraine and the Ukrainian American community.” For additional remembrances of Diuk, see www.ned.org/ned-mourns-the-passing-of-dear-friend-and-colleague-nadia-diuk.
NED’s International Forum
The International Forum hosted several events featuring Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows. On January 24, Kyrylo Loukerenko (Ukraine), journalist and cofounder of the Ukrainian public news service Hromadske Radio, delivered a presentation entitled “The Struggle to Achieve Public Media Reform in Ukraine.” Dean Jackson of NED served as moderator, and Joanna Rohozinska of NED offered comments.
On February 14, George Sarpong (Ghana), a lawyer and journalist who currently serves as executive secretary of Ghana’s National Media Commission, delivered a presentation entitled “Digital Migration and the Democratization of Africa’s Information Space.” Sally Blair of NED served as moderator, and Nicholas Benequista of CIMA offered comments.
On February 26, Ladan Boroumand (Iran), a historian and cofounder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, delivered a presentation entitled “A Crisis of Legitimacy in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Forty Years After the Revolution.” Marc Plattner, coeditor of the Journal of Democracy moderated.
A new cohort of fellows has joined the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program from March through July 2019. They include Elsa D’Silva (India), Martin Krygier (Australia), Agon Maliqi (Kosovo), and Joshua Olufemi (Nigeria).
The Forum’s “Power 3.0” podcast featured interviews with Nadège Rolland on “The Evolution of China’s Belt and Road”; Marc Plattner on “Democracy and the Illiberal Temptation” (based on his article in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of Democracy); Moisés Naím on “The Intersection of Globalization and Polarization”; and Andrea Kendall-Taylor on “Curbing Authoritarian Influence in Europe.”
In late March, the Journal of Democracy launched a new website, which can be found at www.journalofdemocracy.org. [End Page 190]