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The National Endowment for Democracy: What It Is and What It Does(People's Daily Online) 15:05, August 09, 2024
August 2024
Introduction
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) acts as the US government’s “white gloves.” It has long engaged in subverting state power in other countries, meddling in other countries’ internal affairs, inciting division and confrontation, misleading public opinion, and conducting ideological infiltration, all under the pretext of promoting democracy. Its innumerable evil deeds have caused grave harm and drawn strong condemnation from the international community.
In recent years, NED has kept changing tactics and gone even further in acting against the historical trend of peace, development and win-win cooperation. It has become more notorious for its infiltration, subversion and sabotage attempts against other countries. It is imperative to unmask NED and alert all countries to the need to see through its true colors, guard against and fight back its disruption and sabotage attempts, safeguard their national sovereignty, security and development interests, and uphold world peace and development and international fairness and justice.
Ⅰ. NED—the US government’s “white gloves”
NED claims to be an NGO that provides support for democracy abroad. In fact, it acts as the US government’s “white gloves” in carrying out subversion, infiltration and sabotage across the world.
1. NED is the implementer of CIA covert operations. In the early days of the Cold War, CIA supported opposition activities in socialist countries in Eastern Europe via “private voluntary organizations” to advance “peaceful evolution.” After such activities were exposed in the mid to late 1960s, the US government began contemplating cooperation with civil society organizations to conduct similar activities. Hence the idea of setting up an organization of this kind. As William Blum, an American scholar, wrote, “The idea was that the NED would do somewhat overtly what the CIA had been doing covertly for decades, and thus, hopefully, eliminate the stigma associated with CIA covert activities.”Ⅰ
2. NED was established under the auspices of the US government. In 1981, after he came into office, President Ronald Reagan intended to promote his “Project Democracy” abroad, and proposed a government-funded and privately-run foundation to openly support “democratic movements abroad.” One of the purposes of NED, created in 1983, is to encourage the establishment and growth of democratic development in a manner consistent both with the broad concerns of US national interests and with the specific requirements of the democratic groups in other countries which are aided by programs funded by NED.
3. NED is funded by US government. On November 22, 1983, the US Congress passed the NED Act which reiterated the purposes of NED and clarified such issues as congressional appropriations, financial audit by the government, and the requirement to report to the Congress and the President. In 1983, the year when NED was established, the Congress provided US$18 million to NED. Over the past 40-plus years, the volume of congressional appropriations has kept increasing in general. According to data from USAspending.gov, NED received an appropriation of US$315 million in FY2023. As a report of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace revealed, “Almost all the NED’s funds come from the US Congress.”II
4. NED programs are run under the guidance of the US State Department and embassies abroad. As required by the enabling legislation for NED, NED should consult with the State Department on its program plans to seek foreign policy guidance. According to a USAID report “Democracy Promotion Programs Funded by the US Government,” NED consults on an ongoing basis with the State Department, through the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, with USIA and with US embassies abroad on programmatic matters.
5. NED reports to the US government on its work and accepts audit and oversight by the government. According to the NED Act, NED shall submit to the President an annual report for the preceding fiscal year no later than December 31 of each year. The report should include NED’s operations, activities and accomplishments. Audit of NED is conducted annually by the US Government General Accounting Office. A report of each audit shall be made to the Congress, and a copy of each report shall be furnished to the President.
6. The US government has access to information on all NED-funded programs. According to the NED Act, NED or any of its duly authorized representatives shall have access to any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipient pertinent to assistance provided through NED. The US Comptroller General or any of his duly authorized representatives shall also have access thereto.
7. NED’s mandate is endorsed by the US government. Philip Agee, a former CIA officer, said on a 1995 TV show, “Nowadays, instead of having just the CIA going around behind the scenes and trying to manipulate the process secretly by inserting money here and instructions there and so forth, they have now a sidekick, which is this National Endowment for Democracy, NED.” In a report entitled “The National Endowment for Democracy: A Prudent Investment in the Future,” Kim Holmes, former Assistant Secretary of State, argues that “Funding the NED is a prudent investment because it is far less expensive to aid friendly democrats than it is to defend against hostile dictatorships.”
II. Instigating color revolutions to subvert state power in other countries
