|
|
|
International Forum >> Fellowship Programs >> Past Fellows |
||
For more information contact:
Int'l Forum for Democratic Studies National Endowment for Democracy 1025 F Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004, USA 202.378.9700 / Fax:202.378.9407 fellowships@ned.org 2006–2007
Dr. Diego Abente-Brun is currently deputy director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. He has previously served as professor of sociology and politics at the Catholic University of Paraguay and senior research fellow at the Centro de Análisis y Difusión de la Economía Paraguaya (CADEP), a nongovernmental organization dedicated to the research and study of economic and social issues in Paraguay. In addition to his distinguished record as a scholar and published author, Dr. Abente-Brun has served as a senator (1993–2003), as Paraguay’s ambassador to the Organization of American States (1999–2002), as senior cabinet advisor to the Minister of Finance (2003–2005), and as Minister of Justice and Labor (2002). During his Reagan-Fascell fellowship, Dr. Abente-Brun explored the variables that may help or hinder the development of quality democratic systems in South America, with a particular focus on the experiences of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. — Last updated: Spring 2008 Events: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Dilemmas of Democracy in Paraguay (Thursday, June 7, 2007)
Mr. Ali Afshari is a leading Iranian political activist who has championed the cause of democracy for over a decade. Beginning with his involvement in 1995 with the Islamic Student Association at Amir Kabir University, of which he was the secretary for three years, Mr. Afshari has been a tireless advocate of freedom, human rights and democracy. He has published more than fifty essays, conducted numerous interviews, and delivered over 100 speeches on topics relating to democracy in Iran. Imprisoned for his activities in 2000 and 2003, he spent 400 days in solitary confinement. During his fellowship, Mr. Afshari drew upon his experience as an opposition activist to assess the major factors contributing to the lack of democracy in Iran. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Dr. Khapta Akhmedova is professor of psychology at Chechen State University and head of the Mental Health Center for Peace-building, a nongovernmental mental health center that promotes peace-building. A native of Chechnya, she has worked tirelessly in the face of war to apply her expertise in psychology in support of a peaceful and democratic solution to the Chechen conflict. Her research has focused on what lures individuals to join terrorist groups and to engage in the kinds of suicide attacks Russia has witnessed in recent years. Following the first outbreak of war in Chechnya in 1997, she worked for the French humanitarian organization Medecins du Monde, where she coordinated psychological-assistance programs for refugees. Her many publications include writings in Russian, French, and English on terrorism, fanaticism, and postwar rehabilitation. During her fellowship, Dr. Akhmedova worked on a book on suicide terrorism in Chechnya, including measures that can be taken to end it. — Last updated: Spring 2007
Mr. Hafez Al-Bukari is chairman of the Yemeni Polling Center, an NGO that fosters political and electoral awareness, and general secretary of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. As a veteran journalist and proponent of human rights and press freedom, Mr. Al-Bukari has written numerous articles in Yemeni and U.S. newspapers, including the Yemen Times, Yemen Observer, the Washington Times, and the National Review. In addition, he is a member of the informal advisory board of the American Enterprise Institute's Arab Reform program and coordinator of the International Federation of Journalists' Project in Yemen. During his fellowship, Mr. Al-Bukari developed a blueprint for a center that monitors freedom of expression in Yemen and the Gulf region. — Last updated: Fall 2006
— Last updated: Spring 2008
Ms. Nigina Bakhrieva is founder and director of the Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law, a Dushanbe-based nongovernmental organization working to promote human rights, press freedom, and the rule of law in Tajikistan. One of her country’s leading human rights activists, she is the chair of a network of Tajik NGOs that has prepared a series of reports on human rights in Tajikistan for the UN Human Rights Committee. She has collaborated with and provided training for lawyers, judges, and NGO practitioners throughout Central Asia in the areas of judicial reform, human rights, and capacity building. She has also worked as a legal assistant in the UN Office for Peace Building in Tajikistan. Prior to joining the nongovernmental sector, she taught civil, commercial, and private law for six years as assistant professor of civil law at Tajik State National University in Dushanbe. During her fellowship, Ms. Bakhrieva examined the emergence of nongovernmental organizations in Tajikistan and the challenges they face in promoting democracy. — Last updated: Spring 2007 Events:NGOs and War: The Case of Tajikistan (Wednesday, June 6, 2007)
Mr. Michael Boda (Canada/U.S.)October 2006–February 2007 “Beyond Free and Fair: International Law as a Standard for Evaluating Elections” Mr. Michael Boda is an international election consultant and has worked with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the OSCE, the Carter Center, and the U.S. National Association of Secretaries of State on election standards and administration. In 2003–2004, he was a visiting research fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he conducted research on electoral processes. Between 1995 and 2000, he served as senior editor and deputy director of information resources at IFES, where he established and managed three global web-based resources, the Administration and Cost of Elections Project, CNN-IFES Election Watch, and ElectionGuide.org, which provide the public with up-to-date information on elections around the world. During his fellowship, Mr. Boda developed a framework for assessing elections that integrates the theory and practice of election monitoring and administration. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Mr. Jose Luis Gascon is executive director of LIBERTAS (Lawyer’s League for Liberty), a Manila-based network of civic-minded legal professionals committed to reforms in the justice sector and the promotion of freedom, equality, and the rule of law in the Philippines. He also lectures in the political science departments of Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, and is corporate secretary of the International Center for Innovation, Transformation, & Excellence in Governance (INCITEGov). The youngest member to both the 1986 Constitutional Commission and the first Congress following the end of martial law, Mr. Gascon has also served as a peace negotiator and undersecretary of education. He was the recipient of an Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2007, a Stanford University Summer Fellowship on Democracy and Development in 2005, and a Benigno S. Aquino Fellowship for Public Service in 2001. During his fellowship at NED, Mr. Gascon examined the challenges of Philippine democracy, with particular focus on the strengthening of political institutions. — Last updated: Spring 2007 Events:The Congressional Elections in the Philippines: An Initial Assessment (Thursday, May 24, 2007)Democratic Recession in the Philippines: What Went Wrong? (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)
Mr. Jared Genser is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer currently working as an associate with the law firm DLA Piper LLP. He is the founding president of Freedom Now, an NGO whose mission is to improve respect for human rights by securing the release of prisoners of conscience through focused legal, political, and public-relations advocacy efforts. During his fellowship, Jared worked on a book entitled The Fifth Freedom: Inspiring Stories of Human Rights Defenders, a narrative nonfiction account of the real-life stories of people who have sacrificed their freedom to promote democracy and human rights around the world. He has served as pro bono counsel for the individuals to be featured in his book, having assisted in securing their releases from prison. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Ms. Rahma Hugaira is co-founder and chairwoman of the Yemeni Female Media Forum, a nongovernmental organization that promotes women’s rights and gender equality in the media throughout the Middle East. One of Yemen’s most respected journalists and a steadfast proponent of women’s rights, Ms. Hugaira has written for numerous Arabic newspapers and magazines, including Saba News, Al-Nas, Zahrat Al-Khaleej, and Al-Ahram. Among her other affiliations, she is director of the Rights and Freedom Defense section of the Yemen-based Foundation for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedom, and has previously served as president of the Yemeni League to Defend Journalists. During her fellowship, Ms. Hugaira examined the role of women in reform projects in the Middle East. In the long run, she plans to establish an interactive Arabic-language website that would facilitate networking among women’s rights groups in the Middle East. — Last updated: Spring 2007 Events:Redesigning the “Social Contract”: Toward Political Empowerment of Women in the Arab Gulf (Monday, July 9, 2007)
Dr. Krzysztof Jasiewicz is professor of sociology at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. A leading expert on voting behavior and political change in Poland, Dr. Jasiewicz was the founder and first director of Electoral Studies at the Institute for Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He has taught courses in sociology and comparative politics, with a focus on communism, post-communism, and European politics and societies, at U.S. and Polish universities for the last thirty-five years. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of over ten books in Polish and English, including The 1991 and 1993 Elections of the Polish Sejm (with R. Markowski, 2006) and Sustainable Democracy in Post-Communist Europe (with J. Pakulski and J. Higley, 1999) and has published articles on Polish politics and culture in a wide range of academic journals, including the European Journal of Political Research, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, and the Journal of Democracy. During his fellowship, Dr. Jasiewicz worked on a book-length manuscript on the role of religion as both a facilitator of and a potential obstacle to the development of civil society and pluralist democracy in Poland. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Dr. Bernadeta Killian is senior lecturer in the department of political science at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is also Zanzibar coordinator at Research and Education for Democracy (REDET), a research and advocacy program based at the University of Dar es Salaam. Dr. Killian has previously served as coordinator of the Tanzania Election Monitoring Committee in Zanzibar. The winner of a Rockefeller Foundation African Dissertation Award for her research on democratization in Tanzania, she has published numerous articles on democratization and transitional politics in Tanzania and East Africa, as well as consultancy reports for organizations including the UNDP, World Bank, and the Tanzania Elections Committee. During her fellowship, Dr. Killian drew upon previously collected survey data to prepare an article on political identity and democratic consolidation in Zanzibar, and to expand into book form her dissertation on democratization in Tanzania. — Last updated: Spring 2007 Events:Identity Politics in Zanzibar and the Challenges of Democratic Consolidation in Tanzania (Thursday, June 28, 2007)
Mr. John Kollie is a senior producer with the Search for Common Ground in Liberia and Liberian correspondent for the English-language service of Radio France. The producer of two radio shows, "One Step Beyond" and "Policy Issues," Mr. Kollie works to create space for Liberians of diverse backgrounds to discuss critical issues relating to the future of their country. He won the Press Union of Liberia's "Investigative Reporter of the Year Award" in 2000 and its "Producer of the Year Award" in 2005. An activist for reconciliatory democracy, Mr. Kollie reported extensively on the misrule of Charles Taylor, an act that cost him his job at a Liberian television station. During his fellowship, he researched the role of the media in promoting peace and good governance in post-conflict settings and worked on a paper documenting his findings. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Mr. Ilko Kucheriv is founder and director of the Kiev-based Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a leading think tank that focuses on deepening democracy in Ukraine. Since its founding in 1992, Mr. Kucheriv and his institution have engaged in research and debates concerning public attitudes to political, social and economic issues. They have commissioned exit polls for major Ukrainian elections, including the 2004 presidential elections, in which massive electoral fraud led to the Orange Revolution. Widely recognized as one of Ukraine's most prominent nongovernmental activists, Mr. Kucheriv has been active in Ukrainian civil society for over twenty-five years. During his fellowship, he developed a communications campaign aimed at introducing Ukrainian citizens to the Euro-Atlantic movement and at helping them better understand and embrace Euro-Atlantic values. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Dr. Thein Lwin is director of the Teacher Training Center for Burmese Teachers, a nonprofit educational organization that seeks to transform the quality of education in Burma through ongoing countrywide teacher training programs. A leading proponent of the importance of education in promoting democracy, he holds a doctorate in education from the University of Newcastle, where he served as visiting lecturer in the department of education in 1999–2000. Dr. Lwin has previously also served as academic coordinator of the Burmese National Health and Education Committee, an umbrella organization of Burmese exile groups, as coordinator of an OSI-sponsored project in northern Thailand, entitled “Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking,” and as trustee of Prospect Burma, a British charity that offers scholarships to Burmese students wishing to study abroad. During his fellowship, Dr. Lwin studied educational reform within the context of political transitions, focusing on the role of classroom-level instruction in facilitating democratic change. — Last updated: Spring 2007 Events:Education and Democracy in Burma: Decentralization and Classroom-Level Educational Reform (Tuesday, July 10, 2007)
Mr. Manouchehr Mohammadi is a prominent democracy activist who has been at the forefront of the student movement in Iran for more than a decade. He has served as secretary general of the National Association of Iranian Students and has helped to organize a number of other student groups, including the National Union of Students and Graduates, the Organization of Iranian Intellectual Students, and the Students’ Defense Committee for Political Prisoners. For his involvement in the student uprisings of 1999, he was sentenced to death by the Iranian regime (subsequently reduced to a jail sentence of thirteen to fifteen years). In 2006, after seven years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, Mr. Mohammadi managed to escape the country and obtain asylum in the United States. During his fellowship, Mr. Mohammadi examined the history and future prospects of the student movement in Iran. — Last updated: Spring 2007
Dr. Raushan Nauryzbayeva is executive director of the Development of Civil Society, a public foundation that implements projects on human rights, ecology, and civic education in Kazakhstan. She is also president of the Alumni Research Association (ARA), a network of individuals who have held fellowships with such institutions as IREX and the Fulbright program. From 2001 to 2002, she served as deputy vice-rector of the Kazakh State Legal Academy, where she worked with the Ministry of Education on developing standardized educational methodologies and curricula, including workshops on promoting the rights of women and minorities. She has served as senior lecturer of law both at Kazakh State (1995–97) and at Kunaev University (2000–2001), where she has taught courses in constitutional and human rights law. During her fellowship, Dr. Nauryzbayeva focused on how to educate and train local Kazakh NGOs to advance their causes through participation and dialogue with governmental institutions. — Last updated: Spring 2007
Ms. Olga Nicolenco is head of the Chisinau chapter and permanent bureau member of the center-right Social-Liberal Party (SLP), one of Moldova's most forward-thinking, democratically minded political parties. A staunch proponent of democratic freedoms and social equality, particularly vis-à-vis women's participation in politics, she has been instrumental in the establishment of the SLP's women's caucus and in an educational campaign to deliver children's books to schools and kindergartens in the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova. As a leading party trainer and party activist, she has participated in several television and radio shows and has published numerous newspaper articles on democracy and human rights. In November 2005, she became her party's candidate to run for mayor of Chisinau, the only woman on the ballot. During her fellowship, Ms. Nicolenco developed strategies to increase women's involvement in local public administration in Moldova. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Dr. Jaime Ordóñez is director of Centro Estudios Para el Futuro, a San-Jose-based institute that promotes democracy, human rights, and state reform in Central America. He is also director of the department of state theory at the University of Costa Rica’s Law School. From 2000 to 2001, he was Costa Rica’s special ambassador to the Organization of American States, where he directed its country’s negotiations related to the Inter-American Democratic Charter. He has taught constitutional and human rights law at a number of U.S. universities, including Columbia, Tulane, and the University of Maryland at College Park. In addition to writing over ten books in Spanish, including Democracy Without Rules (2004), Security, Military Forces, and Human Rights in Latin America (1999), and Human Rights: Indigenous Peoples (1995), he also has drafted ombudsman laws for Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay. From March to July 2007 Dr. Ordóñez was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at NED, where he continued to work on compiling the 2007 Central American Report on Legal and Institutional Governance. — Last updated: Spring 2007
A lawyer by training, Mr. Le Quoc Quan has worked for the past seven years as a local governance consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNDP, and the Swedish International Development Agency. An active participant in Vietnam's struggle for democracy, he has been vocal in his defense of religious freedom and political pluralism, both as a law student and legal advocate, and in his writings for the BBC and several Vietnamese newspapers. He is founder of Vietnam Solutions, a firm that provides consulting services on local governance, poverty reduction, and grassroots democracy for development projects in Vietnam. During his fellowship, Mr. Quan examined successful democratic transitions and considered how civil society might contribute to the democratization of Vietnam. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Ms. Nilofar Sakhi is executive director of Women Activities and Social Services Association (WASSA), an Afghan NGO that seeks to promote women’s empowerment through capacity-building workshops, seminars, and other activities. Ms. Nilofar Sakhi is executive director of Women Activities and Social Services Association (WASSA), an Afghan NGO that seeks to promote women’s empowerment through capacity-building workshops, seminars, and other activities. A leading advocate for women’s education and empowerment in Afghanistan, she spent the academic year 2006–2007 on a Fulbright fellowship at Eastern Mennonite University, in Virginia, where she pursued a graduate degree in conflict transformation. During her fellowship, Ms. Sakhi examined the challenges confronting the women’s movement in Afghanistan and gave a public presentation on the topic on March 8, 2007. — Last updated: Fall 2007
2005–2006
Mr. Dany Ayida is the managing director of Africa Label, a consulting group dedicated to the promotion of development opportunities in Africa. A veteran activist for democratic reform in Togo, he founded and coordinated the Concertation Nationale de la Société Civile (CNSC), a network of pro-democracy advocacy groups that observed Togo's 2003 presidential election. In July 2003, he launched a program named Alternative Togo, which seeks to engage the Togolese diaspora in efforts to enact democratic change. He is also a seasoned journalist whose writings have appeared in La Parole, Nouvel Echo, and Le Temps, a newspaper he founded in 1999. Mr. Ayida remains an outspoken voice for human rights and democratization in Togo. In 1996, he was recognized as the Togolese Journalist of the Year, and in 1999 he was runner-up for the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award. Mr. Ayida recently published a book in French, entitled Il Faut Sauver le Togo (“We Must Save Togo”). Research for the book was done in part during Mr. Ayida’s stay at the NED, where he researched the potential for political transformation and democratic reform in Togo. In addition, Mr. Ayida published Contes du Pays de mes Aïeux (Tales of my Ancestral Lands), a collection of transcribed oral tales from various African nations. During his fellowship at the International Forum, Mr. Ayida explored strategies for facilitating the transition from authoritarian rule to multiparty democracy in Togo. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Dr. Joel Barkan is professor emeritus of political science and international programs at the University of Iowa and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. A widely recognized expert on democratic transitions in East Africa, he is the author of numerous articles, books, and book chapters on African politics, including Beyond Capitalism versus Socialism in Kenya and Tanzania (1994), "Uganda: An African Success Past Its Prime" (Woodrow Wilson International Center, 2005), "Kenya After Moi" (Foreign Affairs, 2004), "The Many Faces of Africa: Democracy Across a Varied Continent" (Harvard International Review, 2002), and "Protracted Transitions Among Africa's New Democracies" (Democratization, 2000). Over the past three years, he and several collaborators have collected a large amount of data on the role of legislatures in transitional African democracies. Dr. Barkan drew upon this data set during his Reagan-Fascell fellowship as he prepared a book-length manuscript on the legislative experience and democratization in six African countries. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Dr. Hossein Bashiriyeh is an associate professor of political science at the University of Tehran, where he has been teaching courses on subjects ranging from political mobilization and development to theories of democratic transitions since 1982. He is the author of fifteen books, including (in English) The State and Revolution in Iran (1984), and (in Persian) Transition to Democracy (2005), The Political Sociology of Iran (2001), Obstacles to Political Development in Iran (2000), and The Kingdom of Reason (1995). During his fellowship at NED, he examined the role of political oppositions in moving from "transitional situations" to "actual transitions," comparing cases of successful and unsuccessful democratic transitions in the last quarter of the twentieth century. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Ms. Ann Bernstein is founding director of the Center for Development and Enterprise, an independent policy research think tank based in Johannesburg, whose publications are 'read and heard' in South Africa's cabinet. A leading proponent of the importance of economic growth in promoting democracy and sustainable development, she previously served as an executive director of the Urban Foundation, South Africa's then-premier NGO that had been instrumental in using the power and influence of business to persuade the apartheid government to reform key aspects of its approach to black urbanization. A board member of the Development Bank of Southern Africa between 1995 and 2001, she has published extensively on business, democracy, development, and policy-making in South Africa, including the books Migration and Refugee Policies (with M. Weiner, 1999), Business and Democracy: Cohabitation or Contradiction? (with P.L. Berger, 1998), and Policy Making in A New Democracy: South Africa's Challenges for the 21st Century. During her fellowship, Ms. Bernstein studied the role of business in society, especially in developing countries, and the impact of corporations on social, economic, and democratic processes. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Dr. Dogu Ergil is chair of the department of political behavior and a professor of political sociology at Ankara University in Turkey. He is also president and co-founder of the Centre for the Research of Societal Problems (TOSAM), based in Ankara. A renowned expert on terrorism, European integration, and the Kurdish minority, Dr. Ergil has written twenty-one books and dozens of articles and research papers. He has also served as an advisor to Turkey's former ministers of internal and external affairs and as a special advisor to the president of the Turkish Chambers of Commerce and Industry. In 2004, TOSAM took on the challenging work of putting together a comprehensive youth democracy training program for high schools, which was tested among high school and university students in southeastern Turkey. During his fellowship, Dr. Ergil completed this project by preparing a training manual, tentatively entitled Democracy and Effective Citizenship Training: A Handbook. He also worked on a monograph concerning citizens' attitudes toward secular and religious politics, based on research conducted prior to his fellowship. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Dr. Charles Fairbanks is Director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. His areas of expertise include the politics of Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, strategic and security issues in the region, and human rights and democratization. He has previously served as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of State, as foreign policy advisor to the campaigns of Ronald Reagan (1980) and George H.W. Bush (1988), and as a member of the political science faculty at Yale University and the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Allure of Summits (2000) and numerous articles, including "Georgia's Rose Revolution" (Journal of Democracy, April 2004), "Disillusionment in the Caucasus and Central Asia," (Journal of Democracy, October 2001), "Gorbachev's Cultural Revolution," (Commentary, August 1989), and "The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917–1991" (Commentary, 1994). During his fellowship, he conducted a comparative study of democratic breakthroughs in the postcommunist world. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Dr. Elena Gerasimova is director and cofounder of the Center for Social and Labor Rights, a non-governmental organization that promotes economic equity, civil rights, and labor rights in Russia. She is a leading labor attorney, advocating improved wages and working conditions for Russian citizens and helping trade unions to defend their rights and the rights of their members. She is also a specialist in laws regulating civil procedure and freedom of association. Her leadership and courage have won the respect and cooperation not only of her colleagues, but also of local and federal authorities in Russia. Dr. Gerasimova has lectured on labor law at Moscow State University and the All-Russian Academy for International Trade and has published widely on the subject in Russia. During her fellowship, she compared Russian and U.S. approaches to preventing discrimination in labor relations and dispute resolutions. She also explored several features of the American legal community's relationship with labor NGOs, including the relationships of American NGOs with governmental bodies, how legal experts provide counsel to NGOs, and how NGOs work to accommodate international guidelines governing human rights. She used the results of her research to develop a strategy memorandum to guide the Center for Social and Labor Rights in its future activities and work. — Last updated: Spring 2006
Mr. Guillermo Jorge is a lawyer currently working in anti-corruption and asset-recovery programs for different Latin American governments and international institutions. He is also a professor of law at the Universidad de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr. Jorge worked for several years with renowned attorney Luis Moreno-Ocampo as a partner in Moreno Ocampo's law firm. Mr. Jorge was instrumental in challenging Argentine legal standards, in asking for the extradition of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and in litigating several cases before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. Considered "one of the experts in the region in asset recovery," he has served as pro-bono legal adviser for Transparency International and Poder Ciudadano. During his fellowship, Mr. Jorge produced a policy memorandum for Latin American law-enforcement agencies with analysis and recommendations on asset-recovery issues. — Last updated: Spring 2006
Ms. Nozima Kamalova is founding chair of the Legal Aid Society of Uzbekistan (LAS), a leading Uzbek NGO that safeguards and promotes the rule of law and human rights in Uzbekistan by investigating high-profile human rights abuses and providing free legal services to the poor. A highly respected human rights attorney who has been on the frontlines of the struggle for human rights and democracy in Uzbekistan, Ms. Kamalova has been instrumental in the revision of several Uzbek laws related to torture and human rights. As a Reagan-Fascell Fellow, Ms. Kamalova explored the impact of security measures in the “war against terror” on democratic freedoms and civil rights. As a Visiting Fellow, she conducted research at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the spring and summer of 2006 and spent the academic year 2006–2007 at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, where she continues her research and writing on the war on terror and human rights. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Ms. Miria Matembe has been at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights in Uganda for over two decades. A member of Uganda's parliament since 1989, she served as Uganda's minister for ethics and integrity from 1998 to 2003, when she was elected to the Pan-African Parliament, an initiative of the African Union. She is the co-founder and former chairperson of Action for Development, Uganda's leading women's advocacy organization, and has held a number of previous appointments, including as a member of the Uganda Constitutional Commission, as member of the constituent assembly, which promulgated the 1995 national constitution, as deputy general secretary of the seventh Pan-African Congress (held in Kampala in 1990), and as senior lecturer in law and English at the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Kampala. During her fellowship, she conducted a comparative study of women's involvement in the political affairs of different democracies, in an effort to identify ways and means of enhancing the participation of women in Ugandan politics. Ms. Matembe has since returned to Uganda to implement the results of her fellowship, by establishing the Center for Women in Governance. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Dr. Penda Mbow is an associate professor of history at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, where she has published widely on African political and social issues, often focusing on the role of Islam in Africa. She has previously served as Senegal's minister of culture and as cultural advisor to the Senegalese department of ethnography and historical heritage. Dr. Mbow has received numerous academic awards, including a Fulbright grant to study at Michigan State University and a Rockefeller Foundation award for research at the Bellagio Center in Italy. In recognition of her achievements as a scholar, thinker, and political activist, she was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur Francaise (Knight of the French Legion of Honor) in 2003 and Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 1999. Among her many areas of expertise are African intellectual history and Islamic gender studies. She is currently working on a report for the United Nations Development Program entitled, "History, Multiculturalism, and Democracy in Africa." Dr. Mbow spent her fellowship researching the evolution of Islam's relationship with democracy in Senegal, as well as the interplay between women, human rights, and religion in Islamic societies. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Mr. Grigorij Mesesznikov is a political scientist and president of the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), widely considered one of Slovakia's most influential think tanks. In addition to editing A Global Report on the State of Society, IVO's annual scorecard on Slovak democracy for the last ten years, Mr. Mesesznikov has also contributed to Freedom House's Nations in Transit from 1999 to 2004. Through scholarly research and political activism, Mr. Mesesznikov was an active participant in several opposition movements against the authoritarian regime of Vladimir Meciar in the 1990s and has gained a reputation for his positive and far-reaching "role in the struggle for democratization and the creation of a pluralist public sphere" in Slovakia. He was a senior researcher of political science and international relations at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he published numerous articles that pushed for democratic reforms. He also served as a member of the informal advisory board to the Democratic Party, a center-right political party that was part of the coalition that brought down the Meciar regime in 1998. During his fellowship, Mr. Mesesznikov examined the ways in which think tanks in advanced democracies influence the policy-making process in order to apply the lessons he learned to Slovakia. — Last updated: Spring 2006
Ms. Vandita Mishra is a journalist and member of the lead editorial team with the Indian Express, one of India's most prominent English-language daily newspapers. As the newspaper's senior assistant editor, she writes a weekly op-ed column called "Us and Them," which examines foreign media, as well as an occasional column on political issues for the editorial page. Prior to joining the Indian Express, she served as assistant editor at the Pioneer, another English-language daily, where she wrote a biweekly column for the editorial page. Her articles touch on a wide range of political issues and have also appeared in the Hindustan Times, the Tribune, and the journal Seminar. During her fellowship, Ms. Mishra conducted a comparative study of political party systems, with a particular focus on India's party system and the cultivation of norms governing relations between parties when they unite to form coalition governments. Her project resulted in a series of articles to be published in the Indian Express. — Last updated: Spring 2006
Dr. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi is director of the Romanian Academic Society, one of Romania's foremost think tanks and a leading policy advocacy group in the region. She is an analyst for Freedom House's annual Nations in Transit survey for Romania, in addition to serving as a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme in the Balkans and to the World Bank in the Caucasus. Internationally recognized as one of Romania's most original thinkers, she has produced countless books and articles on Central European politics, as well as a critically acclaimed play. In the fall of 2004, Dr. Mungiu-Pippidi helped initiate the Coalition for a Clean Parliament, an anti-corruption campaign that sought to discourage the election of politicians with a record of corruption during the 2004 general elections. During her fellowship, she wrote a paper on anticorruption and public-integrity campaigns within the broader framework of state building. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Mr. Siamak Namazi is managing director of Atieh Bahar Consulting, Iran's premier private consulting firm, and serves on the editorial board of Iran Strategic Focus, a monthly publication that features news and analysis of political and economic developments in Iran. He has published numerous articles in major Middle Eastern journals, contributed chapters to several books, and has served as editor of Iran Quarterly Report, Iran Energy Focus, and Iran Focus. Mr. Namazi devoted his fellowship to a comparative study of different models of economic reform and their impact on political development, as well as the role of the private sector in promoting good governance. — Last updated: Fall 2005
Dr. Andrei Piontkovsky is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. From 1994 to 2005, he served as director of the Center for Strategic Research in Moscow, a Russian think tank that endeavors to support Russia’s political development through research and consultation on a wide range of reform issues, from the rule of law to economic policy. One of Russia’s foremost political commentators, Dr. Piontkovsky has been a consistent and outspoken critic of Putin’s model of “managed” democracy. In the summer of 2007, he returned to Moscow to face prosecution under newly expanded “extremism” legislation for his published criticism of the Putin regime’s consolidation of executive power. The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post recently published articles on the Russian government’s harassment of Dr. Piontkovsky. He has also been a columnist for a number of Russian publications, including the Moscow Times, Novaya Gazetta, Russia Journal, and the online journal Grani.ru, as well as a regular political commentator for the BBC World Service and Radio Liberty in Moscow. His articles on international affairs and post-Soviet political development have been widely published and cited by Russian, European, and U.S. media. During his fellowship, he explored U.S. policy toward Russia and its implications for democracy promotion in Russia. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Ms. Aasiya Riaz is founding director of the Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), an independent, nonpartisan research and training institution established to strengthen democratic governance, monitor legislative performance, and enhance public participation in policy-making in Pakistan. As PILDAT's co-director, she has been involved in conceptualizing and implementing a wide range of programs and activities, including capacity-building workshops for legislators, the formulation of issue-based caucuses across parties, and the publication of democracy reports on policy issues. Ms. Riaz has also worked as an editorial writer with the Nation, a leading Pakistani English-language newspaper, as deputy editor of Pakistan Calling, an international monthly magazine, and as host of a current-affairs television program on Pakistan Television. During her fellowship, she studied the work of U.S. think tanks and the Congressional Research Service and their contribution to democracy in the United States. Based on her findings, she worked on an article on the role of research institutions in deepening democracy in Pakistan, for publication in both English and Urdu newspapers in Pakistan. She also organized a roundtable discussion with leading stakeholders in Pakistan on the need to create and support independent think tanks working on policy issues. — Last updated: Spring 2006
Mr. Roland Rich is the executive head of the United Nations Democracy Fund. Before joining the U.N. in 2007, he served as the founding director of Australian National University’s Centre for Democratic Institutions, Australia's preeminent institution for democracy promotion. A distinguished diplomat, he previously served in Australia’s foreign service, with postings in Paris, Rangoon, Manila, and, from 1994-1997, as Australian ambassador to Laos. He has also served as Legal Advisor and Assistant Secretary for International Organizations in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2005, Mr. Rich was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, where he wrote Pacific Asia in Quest of Democracy (Lynne Rienner, 2007). — Last updated: Spring 2008
Ms. Judy Thein was, until her retirement in December 2005, political specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, in which capacity she analyzed and interpreted local political, economic, and social developments for the U.S. mission, supported the promotion of human rights and democracy in Burma, and called for higher standards of education and health for those in the Burmese democracy movement. As the embassy's senior-most local employee, she served as a vital link between the U.S. embassy and Burmese political groups, evaluating and relaying information vital to the formulation of U.S. foreign policy toward Burma. Prior to joining the U.S. mission, she was office administrator and finance comptroller for a USAID project office in Rangoon. Before that, she taught English and mathematics for nearly a decade. A steadfast proponent of democratic change in her country, Ms. Thein won the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service National of the Year Award in 1998 and its Meritorious Honor Award in 1997 and 2001. Ms. Thein spent her fellowship exploring strategies for strengthening civil society and the Burmese democracy movement, including ways in which the international community may assist in their efforts. — Last updated: Spring 2006
2004–2005
Dr. Fatimakhon Ahmedova is currently involved with the Center of Democratic Transformations, a Tajik NGO, where she oversees projects on Tajik political parties, public administration, and political training for women. In addition, she is an International Programme Intern at the Building and Social Housing Foundation, a UK-based organization. Under the Programme’s sponsorship, she recently traveled to Pakistan, both to write a joint project on nongovernmental organizations in Pakistan and Tajikistan, and to conduct research on how women can be empowered through housing programs. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology and linguistics from St. Petersburg State University in Russia and an M.A. in international human rights law from the University of Essex, in England. She has worked as a country coordinator and specialist on conflict management for the FAST Early Warning Project of the Swiss Peace Foundation in Khujand, and also for the United Nations Office for Project Services in Khujand. During her fellowship, Fatima examined how ethnic and political conflicts in the Ferghana Valley of Central Asia may be resolved in ways that bring peace and democracy to the region. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Mr. Ilyas Akhmadov has been an outspoken advocate of peace, moderation, and independence for Chechnya. He was appointed foreign minister in 1999 by Aslan Maskhadov, who was democratically elected to the presidency of Chechnya in 1997. Mr. Akhmadov has consistently sought to focus international attention on the humanitarian tragedy in Chechnya and to promote a negotiated end to the war with Russia. In February 2003, he presented a comprehensive peace proposal, entitled The Russian-Chechen Tragedy: Conditional Independence under an International Administration (coauthored with Roman Khalilov), in which he argued that the only way to solve the Chechen conflict was through democratization of the region and its integration into the international community. He has published op-eds in the Boston Globe and the Washington Post and has been interviewed by a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Le Monde, and the International Herald Tribune. During his fellowship at the International Forum, Mr. Akhmadov began writing a book tentatively entitled Chechnya's Struggle for Independence. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Michael Allen, United Kingdom Mr. Michael Allen has worked as director of external affairs for the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, a partnership comprising the World Bank, corporations, and the International Youth Foundation. Prior to that, he taught employment law, human-resource management, and labor relations for five years at the Cranfield School of Management in Britain. His fellowship project explored the complex set of relationships among corporations, NGOs, and labor unions in improving working conditions and strengthening civil society in developing economies. — Last updated: Spring 2005
Mr. Dragan Djuric is Montenegro's assistant minister for European Integration at the Ministry for International Economic Relations and European Integration in Podgorica. Previously he worked as a trade union and labor relations activist, as well as a freelance journalist. He was head of the department for international cooperation, education, and information affairs with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Montenegro from 1987 to 2004. For the past five years, he was director of the NGO Center for the Development of Industrial Democracy in Podgorica. During his fellowship, Mr. Djuric analyzed Montenegro's prospects for European integration within the constitutional framework of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and suggested measures to accelerate integration and promote democracy in Montenegro and the Balkan region. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Mr. Andrew Finkel is a prominent freelance journalist who has been based in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1989. He has served as a correspondent and freelance contributor to a number of publications and broadcasting organizations, including Time, The Times, the Economist, and CNN. He has been a featured columnist in the Turkish language press for the daily newspapers Sabah and Milliyet. An expert on Turkish politics, he is the co-editor of Turkish State, Turkish Society (1990). In 2002-2003, he held a Knight Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan. Mr. Finkel's project consisted of two parts: the first focused on the media's ambivalent role in Turkey's current process of reform, while the second involved formulating a methodology whereby Turkish journalists can help raise the standards of their own industry. — Last updated: Spring 2005
Ambassador Raul Gangotena was, until recently, Ecuador's ambassador to the United States. He has since transitioned into a position as a member of the board of directors of the Indigenous and Afro–Ecuadorian Enterprise Corporations, based in Quito, Ecuador. Over his lengthy public career, he has been actively involved in Ecuadorian politics, business, education, and journalism, having served as chief-of-staff for President Sixto Ballen, executive director of the National Modernization Council, business professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and president of the Universidad de Las Americas. From 2000 to 2003, he was a board member for Ecuador's Fulbright Commission, and from 1989 to 1993, he served as board chair for the Children of the Street Foundation. He has published widely on business and public administration in Latin America and has been a respected op-ed columnist in Ecuador for over fifteen years. During his fellowship, Ambassador Gangotena examined how and why Ecuador has been successful in advancing and sustaining its democracy, paying particular attention to inclusion of indigenous people and the avoidance of armed political conflict and narcotics-based organized crime. He drew up his findings in the form of a policy paper. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Dr. Hoon Jaung is a professor of political science at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea. He has also served as editor-in-chief of the Korean International Studies Review and author of numerous articles and book chapters on Korean politics. Dr. Jaung has served as a key member of the Task Force on the Reform of the Presidency, organized by the East Asia Institute (EAI) to redefine the role of the presidency (2002–2003) and as coordinator of the EAI Task Force on the Reform of the Electoral System, Political Parties, and the National Assembly (2003–2004). During his fellowship, he wrote an essay on the "accountability deficit" in foreign policy making in South Korea since the country's democratic transition. His essay explores the sources and patterns of this deficit by examining the apathy of the National Assembly, the changing nature of public opinion, and the enhanced impact of civic associations on foreign policy decision making. — Last updated: Spring 2005
Dr. Guobiao Jiao is associate professor at Beijing University's College of Journalism and Communications. A prominent journalist at Chinese Cultural Newspaper from 1996 to 2001, he has published widely on issues of journalism in China. Following the appearance online of his March 2004 essay condemning the Chinese government's Central Propaganda Department and his continued efforts to promote freedom of the press and human rights in China, he was suspended from his teaching duties. He has received media coverage in the New York Times and Washington Post and has given interviews to the BBC, Voice of America, the French International Broadcast Company, and Radio Free Asia. During his fellowship, he explored historical and contemporary perspectives on the Chinese media, and analyzed the impact of the Internet in China. He wrote a series of articles on the challenges and prospects for the media in China, for eventual publication as a book. — Last updated: Spring 2005
Abiodun Kolawole, NigeriaReagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow October 2004–February 2005 Rural Empowerment and Popular Participation in Nigeria Mr. Abiodun Kolawole is a research officer at the Center for Constitutionalism and Demilitarization, an NGO based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is affiliated with the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), a Nigerian political party. An active participant in Nigeria's student and democracy movements, Mr. Kolawole was instrumental in the formation of the United Action for Democracy, a coalition of human rights, labor, and pro-democracy groups committed to social justice, transparency, and good governance. Noting that democratic nations cannot be built without the participation of the people, Mr. Kolawole used his fellowship to examine methods and strategies for encouraging popular participation as a means of strengthening Nigeria's fragile democracy. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Mr. Chingiz Mammadov was until recently an economic opportunities program officer at the Baku office of Mercy Corps International, a leading humanitarian assistance organization. He has previously worked as a senior program officer at NDI-Baku and as a consultant to the World Bank and TACIS. In addition, he has served as chair of the Azerbaijan Micro-Finance Association and as part-time lecturer on management and organization theory at Western and Khazar Universities in Baku. In 1989-93, he worked as editor-in-chief for Vatan newspaper, one of the flagships of perestroika in Azerbaijan, and spent one year as chief of media relations for the president of Azerbaijan. During his fellowship at NED, Mr. Mammadov studied the impact of regional and international trends on democratization in Azerbaijan. His findings culminated in an article highlighting opportunities for successful democratization policy in Azerbaijan. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Dr. Robert Mattes is associate professor of political science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where he is also director of the Democracy in Africa Research Unit at the Centre for Social Science Research. He has played a leading role in the development of the Afrobarometer, a multinational public-opinion research project that documents and analyzes what Africans think and say about democracy, economic reform, and good governance. A leading expert in the field of public opinion and political action in sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Mattes is the author of numerous articles and books on public opinion in South Africa and across the continent. During his fellowship, he worked on a book exploring the successes and failures of South Africa's democratization process. — Last updated: Spring 2005
Dr. Michael McFaul is associate professor of political science at Stanford University, where he is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he worked for two years as a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Carnegie Moscow Center. One of the world's leading scholars on Russian and U.S.-Russian affairs, Dr. McFaul has authored or coauthored numerous books and monographs, including Between Dictatorship and Democracy: Russian Post-Communist Political Reform (2004) and Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin (2001). During his fellowship, he conducted a comparative study of countries that have undergone successful democratic breakthroughs and those that have not, paying special attention to the role external actors have played in shaping political outcomes. — Last updated: Fall 2006
Dr. James Ng'ombe is executive director of the Malawi Institute of Journalism, which promotes media independence and professionalism through training, research, and writing. One of Malawi's most distinguished and prolific authors, he has published numerous works on political themes, including the novels Sugarcane with Salt (1989) and Madala's Children (1996). The latter, a national classic that explores the harsh realities of life under the one-party dictatorship of Dr. Hastings Banda, is a required textbook for high-school students. Dr. Ng'ombe also manages a publishing company, runs a radio station, and has taught language and communication at the University of Malawi. Following on the success of his second novel, Dr. Ng'ombe devoted his fellowship to writing a sequel, tentatively entitled Madala's Grandchildren. The novel examines the sociopolitical conditions in Malawi in the ten years following Dr. Banda's removal from office and pays special attention to issues of good and bad governance, corruption, and accountability. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Akin Olaniyan, NigeriaReagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow October 2004–February 2005 Watching the Watchdog: The Role of the Media in Sustainable Democracy Mr. Akintola Olaniyan was until recently deputy editor at The Punch, Nigeria's most widely read daily newspaper. An accomplished journalist whose writings have helped cultivate an awareness of democracy in Nigeria, Mr. Olaniyan has been actively involved in the work of a Lagos-based NGO, Journalists for Democratic Rights. He is the author of Corruption and Economic Development in Nigeria (2002) and chairs the African Media Support Initiative, an NGO that trains media practitioners and conducts research on the media and media related issues. During his fellowship, he studied the relationship between the media and sustainable democracy and prepared a report on how corruption in the Nigerian media adversely affects the state of Nigeria's democracy. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Yulia Savchenko, KyrgyzstanReagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow October 2004–February 2005 "Civic Journalism" and Democracy in Kyrgyzstan Ms. Yulia Savchenko is a television anchor and journalist who has achieved public recognition for her talk show on Pyramid TV in Kyrgyzstan. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. Ms. Savchenko started work with Pyramid during her undergraduate years and is now the host of her own show, which features perspectives and debates on issues of political and social interest. During her fellowship, she will examine government-media relations in the United States and U.S. approaches to "civic" or "public" journalism. She is especially interested in how to promote both "guide dog" and "watchdog" press and in the complex relationships among journalists, corporate media, government officials, and the public in a functioning democracy. As a fellow, she wrote articles and prepared training courses that can be implemented in Kyrgyzstan. — Last updated: Fall 2004
Dr. Vitali Silitski is an accomplished scholar who received a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University in 1999, an M.A. in politics from the Central European University in Budapest in 1994, and a BA from Belarusian State University in 1994. In 1999–2003, he worked as an associate professor of economics at the European Humanities University in Minsk, Belarus, a position he was forced to leave for publicly criticizing the government of president Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Since then, he has worked as a freelancer, writing extensively for the Belarusian and international press, as well as for scholarly publications. During his fellowship, Dr. Silitski conducted a comparative study of political developments in Serbia (1987–2000) and Belarus (1994–present), examining nondemocratic outcomes in political transitions. His research (1) explained the pathways of postcommunist development, including the nature of the authoritarian regimes that emerged after the break-up of the Soviet Union; (2) examined the dynamics of these regimes' democratization; and (3) identified applicable theories that can improve on current scholarship concerning transitions to democracy. — Last updated: Fall 2004
2003–2004
Mr. Shahin Abbasov is deputy editor-in-chief of the daily Echo, an independent newspaper based in Baku, Azerbaijan. Prior to joining Echo, he was deputy editor-in-chief and senior correspondent at Zerkalo, one of Azerbaijan’s largest independent dailies. Mr. Abbasov’s fellowship project focused on media coverage of election campaigns. He was especially interested in observing how U.S. mass media operates in the weeks leading up to and following election day. He presented his findings in a report documenting the U.S. media’s role during elections and examined the ways in which the U.S. experience may be applied in Azerbaijan. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Mr. Mohamed Al-Yahyai is an Omani journalist who has worked to promote press freedom in the Arab Gulf states. He has served as an editor, correspondent, and columnist at a wide range of Arab-language newspapers and magazines, including Al-Bayan (Dubai), Al-Hayat (London), Al-Etihad (Abu Dhabi), and Akhbar al-Adab (Cairo). He is the author of two collections of short stories, Kharzat Al-Mashi (Cairo, 1995) and Youma Nafadat Khazeena al-Ghubar (Beirut, 1998). During his fellowship at the Forum, Mr. Al-Yahyai studied the role of the Internet in accelerating political reform and informing public attitudes toward democracy in the countries of the Arab Gulf region. Following his return to Oman, Mr. Al-Yahyai co-founded an Omani NGO called the Gulf Forum for Citizenship. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Ms. Zainab Bangura was recently appointed Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Prior to her appointment, she served as chief of the civil affairs division of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, where she oversaw programs promoting national reconciliation and the restoration of state authority. She has also served as the chair and cofounder of the Movement for Progress, a political party that seeks to promote good governance, integrity, and the empowerment of women, youth, and the disabled in Sierra Leone. In addition, she is also the cofounder and coordinator of Campaign for Good Governance, Sierra Leone’s largest indigenous NGO, which promotes democratic participation, human rights, the rule of law, and the economic and political emancipation of women. During her fellowship, Ms. Bangura’s explored the ways in which democratic institutions may be rebuilt in a state weakened by civil war. Using Sierra Leone as a case study, she examined the steps needed to reestablish the structures of a stable democratic order in the wake of partial or complete state collapse. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Ms. Anahit Bayandur is a leading activist of peace and human rights in Armenia and a former member of the Armenian parliament. She is currently director of the Yerevan-based Democracy School, a NED-funded project that seeks to enhance the Armenian public’s understanding of global issues. The Democracy School offers a forum for discussion among experts in the field, who in turn visit cities around Armenia to lead local citizens in seminars on issues such as global security, economic issues, and democracy-building. She has previously served as co-chair of the Armenian Committee of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, an international network of civic organizations working to deepen Europe’s commitment to democracy and human rights. In 1992, Ms. Bayandur and Ms. Arzu Abdullayeva of Azerbaijan received the 1992 Olof Palme Prize for their joint efforts in bringing peace to the two countries. Ms. Bayandur’s fellowship project looked at transitions to democracy in the former Soviet states and the role of democracy-assistance organizations, such as NED, in facilitating democratic change. — Last updated: Fall 2007 Ladan Boroumand, Iran Dr. Ladan Boroumand is cofounder and research director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, a nongovernmental organization that seeks to promote human rights awareness through education and the dissemination of information as a necessary basis for the eventual establishment of a stable democracy in Iran. The Foundation is best known as the home of Omid (www.abfiran.org), a website that details the human rights abuses committed by the Islamic Republic and memorializes its victims. Dr. Bouroumand is the author of articles on the French Revolution, the Islamic revolution in Iran, and the nature of Islamist terrorism. She is also the author of La Guerre des Principes (1999), an extensive study of the tensions throughout the French Revolution between human rights and the sovereignty of the nation. Dr. Boroumand recently published an article entitled, "Iran’s Resilient Civil Society: The Untold Story of the Fight for Human Rights" in the October 2007 edition of the Journal of Democracy. During her fellowship, Dr. Boroumand examined the prospects for democracy in Iran from a historical perspective. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Dr. Oleksandr Fisun is associate professor of political science at Kharkiv National University in Ukraine, where he also received his Ph.D. in 1990. In 2001, he spent six months as a research scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center's Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies. Dr. Fisun worked on a comparative study of postcommunist political regimes, a project that sought to understand post-Soviet political transformations, their outcomes, and consequences. During his time in residence at the Forum, he worked on a book-length manuscript on this topic, intended for both scholars and policy makers. Dr. Fisun recently returned to the Kennan Institute as a Fulbright Research Scholar, where he completed a project entitled, "Understanding Post-Soviet Politics: Neo-Patrimonial Interpretations." — Last updated: Fall 2007
Ms. Lyudmila Georgieva is founding chair of Foundation Common Cause, a Sofia-based NGO that educates citizens in the art of political advocacy. She is a lecturer in political advocacy at the Technical University in Sofia and a former member of the public council to the parliamentary committee on civil society affairs, the first committee in Bulgarian parliamentary history established to advance legislation strengthening civil society. Ms. Georgieva examined the principles and methods of political lobbying in the United States in order to assess their applicability in Bulgaria. During her fellowship, she conducted a comparative study of U.S. and Bulgarian approaches to political advocacy. To this end, she interviewed public and special interest groups, political action committees and consulted with congressional staff on Capitol Hill. — Last updated: Spring 2004
Dr. Chee Soon Juan is secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party and director of the Open Singapore Centre, an NGO that promotes accountability in all sectors of Singaporean society. Imprisoned twice for championing democratic change, Dr. Chee continues to be a powerful voice of dissent in his country. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom: A Democratic Blueprint for Singapore (2001), To Be Free: Stories From Asia's Struggle Against Oppression (1998) and Dare to Change: An Alternative Vision for Singapore (1994). During his fellowship, he worked on a manuscript concerning civil resistance and political change in Singapore. — Last updated: Spring 2004
Ms. Maria Lisitsyna is currently a researcher on Central Asia for Human Rights Watch. She is also founding president of the Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG), a nongovernmental organization that monitors human rights abuses and conducts human rights educational programs in Kyrgyzstan. A graduate of Kyrgyz National University and the faculty of law at the Kyrgyz-Russian Academy of Education, Ms. Lisitsyna has previously worked at the Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law. In May 2005, she was elected by the Kyrgyz Parliament to serve on her country’s Constitutional Council. In 2007, she was a Yale World Fellow in New Haven, Connecticut. During her fellowship, she studied the American experience of involving youth in human rights activities (promotion, recruitment, and training) and produced training materials for increasing the participation of youth in human rights monitoring in Central Asia. — Last updated: Spring 2008
Ms. Anne Mugisha is a founding member of the Reform Agenda, a leading political organization in Uganda, and a former executive director of RESPOND Uganda, a transnational, pro-democracy NGO based in Washington, D.C. She has held positions in the Ugandan government and NGO sectors, including a period as charge d’affaires ad interim of the Uganda Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Ms. Mugisha is interested in the link between U.S. foreign policy and the strengthening of emerging democracies in Africa. Using Uganda as a case study, her project considered the balance between the United States’ security and economic interests and its desire to foster democracy in Africa. She also assessed the role of the donor community in democratization and conflict resolution. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Ms. Enkhtuya Oidov has been a pioneer in the struggle for democracy in Mongolia since the 1980s. Currently serving as the general secretary of Mongolia's National Council for the Millennium Challenge Account, her efforts recently bore fruit when President Bush and Mongolian president Enkhbayar signed the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact, through which Mongolia will receive $285 million in foreign assistance from the United States. A founding member of the Mongolian Party for National Progress, one of Mongolia's first political parties to advocate free-market reform, she served as a member of Mongolia's parliament between 1996 and 2000 where, as head of the Women's Caucasus, she organized training programs on promoting women to top-level government posts. In 1992, she founded LEOS, Mongolia's first civil society organization, which has since emerged as the country's preeminent democracy and civil rights advocacy group and largest women's NGO. During her fellowship, she studied the rise in human rights abuses and other setbacks that have followed in the wake of Mongolia's 2000 election and identified ways of reversing them. — Last updated: Fall 2007
Mr. Albino Okeny is cofounder and former editor-in-chief of the Khartoum Monitor, a leading Sudanese independent daily that publishes articles concerning southern Sudan, the civil war, and peace initiatives. Currently working as a Media for Peace program officer at Panos–Eastern Africa, a branch of the London-based Panos Institute, which promotes press freedom and information exchange on issues of global concern, he has also served as director of the English Service at Radio Omdurman in Khartoum. During his fellowship, Mr. Okeny researched how journalists can cultivate political awareness in a climate of repression. He also prepared a guide offering practical tips on how the media can educate ordinary citizens about their rights, serve as a mouthpiece for voices against autocracy, and promote a culture of debate and discussion. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Mr. Tomás Pojar is director of People in Need (PIN), a leading Prague-based organization devoted to humanitarian assistance and democracy promotion in repressed societies, crisis areas, and war-torn countries. During his fellowship at the Forum, Mr. Pojar conducted research on the various Western democracy-assistance programs available to dissidents in authoritarian states, such as Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, and North Korea. The results of this study will enable his organization to identify and implement the most feasible and effective strategies for strengthening the work of human rights activists in closed societies. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Mr. Aqil Shah is a political analyst and columnist who covers national security issues, politics, and civil-military relations in Pakistan. He has worked as an analyst with the South Asia Project of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit, multinational organization working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. A Rhodes Scholar with an M.Phil. from Oxford University, he has taught international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad and has authored a number of articles and book chapters, including “Pakistan’s ‘Armored’ Democracy,” which appeared in the October 2003 issue of the Journal of Democracy. Mr. Shah’s fellowship project examined the structural sources of Pakistan’s failed transition to democracy in the 1990s, a project that culminated in a major article for publication. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Ms. Fidaa Shehada is a capacity building officer in crisis management at the Palestinian Institution for the Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development (Panorama), a Ramallah-based nonprofit organization that seeks to strengthen Palestinian civil society through community development. She has previously served as a training and human resources officer at the development organization, FATEN, and as a board member of the Teacher Creativity Center, an institute offering training courses on democracy and human rights education. She holds a master's degree in democracy and human rights from Birzeit University (2003). During her fellowship, Ms. Shehada explored the trends that facilitate and impede the democratization process in Palestine. — Last updated: Spring 2004
Ms. Muborak Tashpulatova is executive director of the Tashkent Public Education Center, a leading civic education organization in Uzbekistan that trains teachers in interactive methods of education, produces textbooks on teaching human rights and civic education, and conducts "town hall"-style civic forums for parents, youth, and the government. Ms. Tashpulatova is a recipient of NED's 2002 Democracy Award. During her fellowship at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, Ms. Tashpulatova evaluated current options and strategies for promoting democracy in Uzbekistan. — Last updated: Spring 2004
Dr. Vladimir Tismaneanu is professor of government and director of the Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies at the University of Maryland–College Park. Since 1998, he has been the editor of East European Politics and Societies, a leading quarterly journal in the field. He is the author of numerous books on East European history and politics, including, most recently, Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism. His articles and interviews have appeared in major American and European publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Times Literary Supplement. During his fellowship, Dr. Tismaneanu worked on a book that examined the impact of political personalities and their ideological preference on party formation and development in Romania. — Last updated: Fall 2003
Mr. Francisco Villagrán de León is a career diplomat with 18 years of experience in the Guatemalan foreign service. He has served as Guatemalan ambassador to the Organization of American States, the United Nations, Canada, Norway and Germany. Before coming to NED, he worked as a consultant on institutional development for the Organization of American States. Mr. Villagrán’s fellowship project explored the links between trade agreements and institutional development, with particular emphasis on the opportunities that the current CAFTA negotiations between the U.S. and Central America may present for democratization in that region. — Last updated: Fall 2003
2002–2003
Adotei Akwei, Ghana Mr. Adotei Akwei is Senior Advocacy Director for Africa at Amnesty International USA, serving as his o |
Dr. Diego Abente-Brun (Paraguay)
Mr. Ali Afshari (Iran)
Dr. Khapta Akhmedova (Russia)
Mr. Hafez Al-Bukari (Yemen)
Ms. Rafiah Al-Talei (Oman)
Ms. Nigina Bakhrieva (Tajikistan)
Mr. Jose Luis Gascon (Philippines)
Mr. Jared Genser (United States)
Ms. Rahma Hugaira (Yemen)
Dr. Krzysztof Jasiewicz (Poland/U.S.)
Dr. Bernadeta Killian (Tanzania)
Mr. John Oliver Kollie (Liberia)
Mr. Ilko Kucheriv (Ukraine)
Mr. Thein Lwin (Burma)
Mr. Manouchehr Mohammadi (Iran)
Dr. Raushan Nauryzbayeva (Kazakhstan)
Ms. Olga Nicolenco (Moldova)
Dr. Jaime Ordóñez (Costa Rica) 
Mr. Le Quoc Quan (Vietnam)
Ms. Nilofar Sakhi (Afghanistan)
Dany Komla Ayida, Togo
Joel Barkan, United States
Hossein Bashiriyeh, Iran
Ann Bernstein, South Africa
Charles Fairbanks, United States
Elena Gerasimova, Russia
Guillermo Jorge, Argentina
Nozima Kamalova, Uzbekistan
Miria Matembe, Uganda
Penda Mbow, Senegal
Grigorij Mesesznikov, Slovakia
Vandita Mishra, India
Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Romania
Siamak Namazi, Iran
Andrei Piontkovsky, Russia
Aasiya Riaz, Pakistan
Roland Rich, Australia
Judy Tin-May Thein, Burma
Ilyas Akhmadov, Chechnya
