Centre for Democratic Institutions

CDI and Senior U.S. Officials Discuss Democracy Promotion

In August CDI hosted visits from two senior United States officials in charge of U.S. democracy promotion activities.

On Monday 14 August, Dr Steven Krasner, Director for Policy Planning in the U.S. Department of State, visited CDI to discuss issues of democracy in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr Krasner was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and has a wide-ranging mandate including issues of policy coordination and democracy promotion. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Krasner was director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, and Director for Governance and Development at the National Security Council, where he worked primarily on the Millennium Challenge Account.

Discussions with Dr Krasner focussed on issues of governance, rule of law, and democracy, particularly the problem of failing and fragile states in the Asia-Pacific region and the potential for better cooperation between established and emerging democracies. Click on this link for more information:

Dr Steven Krasner

On Thursday 17 August, CDI hosted Mr Carl Gershman, the President of the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which funds democracy promotion activities worldwide through grantmaking programs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Latin America. The NED focuses on strengthening the institutions and procedures of electoral democracy to ensure free and fair elections; and encouraging the gradual consolidation of liberal democracy by measures that strengthen the rule of law, protect individual liberties, and foster social pluralism.

Discussion focussed on possible areas of future cooperation between CDI and the NED, including in the area of political party assistance. Clock on this link for more information on the NED worldwide:

NED

^ CDI Director Dr Ben Reilly & Dr Steven Krasner, Director for Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State.

^ NED President Mr Carl Gershman & Dr Ben Reilly


Home	About CDI	CDI Activities	Contact CDI	CDI.News	Links

	Crawford School of Economics and Government	The Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI) is a government-funded body that supports the efforts of new democracies in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen their political systems. It provides training, technical assistance and peer support for parliamentarians and emerging leaders in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, with a particular focus on Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. The Australian Government established CDI in 1998. It is funded primarily by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). One of the primary ways in which CDI works to promote democracy is through strengthening parliamentary governance and political parties. The Centre focusses on parliamentary and political party development, and conducts flagship training courses and policy-relevant research on these subjects.
© The Centre for Democratic Institutions, The Australian National University. Please direct all comments to cdi@anu.edu.au. Last modified: 22 May, 2008 CRICOSProvider Number: 00120C