Friday Alaska World Affairs Council
Friday´s usual luncheon was a great outreach program at UAA in partnership with the UAA Political Science Association. Approximately 60 college and high school students were present. They asked excellent questions.
Laura Jewett, Deputy Regional Director for Eurasia at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and Stephen Nix, Regional Program Director for Eurasia at the International Republican Institute (IRI) talked about their work in Eurasia. And yes, Russian is reverting to a closed society. I had thought as much but had hoped otherwise.
Both the IRI and the NDI were created as non-profits by Regan in 1983. The organizations work together and separately to teach the how-to of open, representative government. They teach citizen involvement and how to organize grassroots political parties.
Their work is not about teaching the U.S. version of democracy, but it is about teaching the mechanics of promoting a representative government that fits in the context of the particular culture.
Harry Bader from Anchorage also spoke about his work in Natural Resources in Iraq. He had just returned (the day before) from six months in Iraq.
3:11:49 PM
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