Surviving Capitalism (Not) : National Endowment for Democracy and North Korean Regime Change

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, March 31, 2014

National Endowment for Democracy and North Korean Regime Change

Click here to access article by Dae-Han Song & Christine Hong from Critical Asian Studies.

Because we real-democracy advocates and ordinary citizens of the world have been witnessing one "regime change" after another often resulting in failed states and other negative consequences, it is of interest to all of us to study this phenomenon carefully. This fairly lengthy article which applies to regime change efforts directed toward North Korea provides an excellent source of information about the Empire's propaganda efforts directed by NGOs like National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and their application against North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK).

Critical Asian Studies is an academic journal and as such uses academic wordage which in some instances obscures meaning for ordinary people. However, I don't think the article is significantly offputting to the average educated reader. And, it offers a much needed, critical look at both the operations of NED in general, and its role specifically in ongoing attempts at regime in North Korea. The article is also broken down into sections conveniently enabling the reader to pick and choose which sections are most interesting.

You will learn that "democracy promotion" became the new theme that was adopted most seriously by NED to provide cover for US imperial propaganda which is a very important component in the overall regime change strategy of the US Empire. Propaganda has always been used by Empire agents since WWII, but this new theme was adopted to replace anti-communist propaganda which outgrew its usefulness as the Cold War was ending.

Various components of their regime change strategy package is starting to be noticed by many political activists on the left especially with the recent successes Empire agents have achieved in Ukraine, Libya, Iraq, and the ongoing attempt in Syria. The best information about this strategy that I've found online is contained in a film study of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 by Susanne Brandstätter entitled "Checkmate - Strategy of a Revolution" that is available for viewing in a series of YouTube videos listed at Cassiopaea Forum website.