THE US-formed and sponsored National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has been acting as a phantasm of true democracy worldwide. It has indulged in anti-democratic practices, anti-human projects and anti-development plans aimed at sabotaging elected governments globally. Consequently, it has gained notoriety for political manipulation, social engineering, economic exploitation, and, mostly significantly, media propaganda against developing countries in the Global South to craft national narratives favourable to the US and its allies.
The real DNA of the NED has exposed its aims, objectives and missions, unfortunately, antagonizing the real quintessence and soul of liberalized democracy. Actually, it has been working of the US, for the US and by the US and remained the US government’s “white gloves” which actually has grubby hands full of shocking deeds of subverting, meddling, inciting, promoting division, confrontation, misleading public opinion and last but not least, conducting ideological infiltration, political hyping and disseminating false, fake and fabricated propaganda against other countries mainly Global South countries, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and all those countries which are the friends of Axis of Resistance in GCC, Middle East and Asia Pacific region, all under the pretext of promoting of so-called democracy.
From the beginning, the NED has undermined true democratic principles like equality, fairness, transparency and mutual respect while imposing its self-coined standards of governance, human rights and freedom of expression. This approach has sparked widespread socio-economic and geopolitical turmoil. Through covert funding of pro-American NGOs, media outlets, think tanks and opportunistic politicians, the NED has pushed divisive narratives, prolonging Cold War mindsets like China’s containment and collapse theories. These efforts have obstructed global cooperation and development. In contrast, China’s wisdom promotes shared prosperity, community development, poverty eradication and job creation, setting new benchmarks for global progress.
It has been promoting destructive security narratives, associating poor democracy, violating human rights, and ethnic violence and ultimately badly disturbed pace of peace, prosperity, development and win-win cooperation around the globe. Apparently, it is a pro-democracy, pro-humanity and pro-human right champion but in reality it has been indulged in infiltration, subversion and sabotage attempts against other countries. Paradoxically, it is the supporter of CIA clandestine operations through different means. The socialist countries in Eastern Europe had the bitter experience via “private voluntary organizations” to advance “peaceful evolution in which the US sponsored civil society organizations played a nauseating role to spread spirits of political chaos, economic instability and societal polarization during the Cold War era.
Furthermore, US sponsored “Project Democracy” in the world prompted colour revolutions to sabotage state power in Central Asia region mainly Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and tried to contain Russian political influence and China’s increasing economic befitting propositions in these countries. Even the so-called Arab Spring was coined and sponsored by the NED in different Middle East countries and tried to tumble many governments to redesign a new chessboard of power politics in the region. Thus NED sponsored the notion that Political Islam jolted Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria, and Bahrain which had the toughest times of their existence. Regrettably, Iran has been a prime target of the NED which has been trying to overthrow the successive Iranian governments. NED also supported the Centre for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in their fabrication of fake news, and supported dissidents in working with anti-government organizations and media outlets to stage smear campaigns against the Iranian government during 2022. It played a conspiratorial role in Ukraine’s “colour revolution” during the 2004 Orange Revolution. It attempted to overthrow the DPRK government through a number of NGOs and sway public opinion in the past.
Categorically, the NED tenaciously plotted with all sorts of elements to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs through funded operations to a large number of organizations in Russia and supported Russian opposition figures in exile in their struggle against the Russian government at important political junctures, such as the State Duma, presidential and local elections. Astonishingly, it has long been infiltrating Europe and co-opting EU officials, encouraging voice for transatlanticism within EU institutions while suppressing voice for strategic autonomy, and financing “independent media” in Europe to tilt public opinion in favour of the US. Sadly, Mexico has been one of the major target countries for its infiltration of the NED which has supported organizations like the Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) and the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO). Moreover, since 2017 NED has funded 54 anti-Cuba organizations.
The NED has deliberately fuelled division and confrontation to destabilize countries worldwide, particularly targeting China. It has consistently supported “Taiwan independence” forces and, in 2022, co-hosted a pro-democracy assembly with Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party. The NED has also conspired with anti-China elements in Hong Kong and provided support to the World Uyghur Congress and “Tibet independence” leaders, backing their activities. These efforts serve to safeguard U.S. interests by fostering conflicts and conspiracies globally. Independent media outlets, scholars, and experts have exposed the NED’s collaboration with the CIA and USAID in funding insurgent forces to topple governments opposed by the U.S.
The Communist Party of China remained the biggest political party of the world which operates through whole process system at the grass-root level caring about people through unique model of people’s friendly policies and plans resolving their worries through eradication of poverty, generation of new jobs and providing basic necessities of life and provisioning of basic human rights and thus remained true champion of multiculturalism, globe governance, development and productivity which has been further strengthened by the Xi’s Global Development, Security and Civilizational Initiatives. Evidently, under the ploy of democracy, freedom, and human rights, the US has misused the NED for intrusion, intervention and insurrection against other countries. Thus, it violated universal concepts of pure democracy, mainly sovereignty, security and development.
—The writer is President, Pak-China Corridor of Knowledge, Executive Director, CSAIS, regional expert: China, CPEC & BRI.
