The institutions listed below work with democracy and human rights issues in some capacity. The list includes world-renowned non-governmental organizations, think tanks, research centers, and foundations, but also those groups doing important democracy and human rights work at the local level. The links provided take you to specific programs within these institutions, not simply to their homepages; these programs deal with democracy and human rights issues, many with a particular focus on Asia. Of course, if you’d like to learn more about the individual organizations, their home pages are an easy click away from the links below.
The organizations linked here are organized by the country/region in which they are based, unless they are large, international, inter-governmental institutions. Here are direct links:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
APEC, is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis. (Provided here is a link to APEC’s Chinese Taipei economic report.)
Commonwealth Secretariat
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 sovereign states, which work together to achieve international goals. Spread over every continent and ocean, the Commonwealth’s 1.7 billion people make up 30% of the world's population. Emphasizing equality, trust and understanding, the Commonwealth facilitates the advancement of democracy, human rights and sustainable economic and social development within its member countries and beyond.
Interparliamentary Union
This link takes you to a comprehensive database on legislatures worldwide. The IU also runs programs specifically related to democracy and human rights. The Union is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.
Organization of American States: Unit for the Promotion of Democracy
The Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) is the principal body within the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) responsible for activities in support of democratic consolidation in the member states. The Unit’s main objective is to provide effective and immediate response to OAS member states requesting advice or assistance in modernizing or strengthening their political institutions and democratic processes. Other objectives include: promoting exchanges of information among the region’s institutions and experts in the field of democracy, responding to governments’ requests for electoral technical assistance and observation of elections and supporting processes of national reconciliation.
WhiteHouse
George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn into office on January 20, 2001, re-elected on November 2, 2004, and sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2005.
U.S. Department of State
American diplomacy in the 21st century is based on fundamental beliefs: our freedom is best protected by ensuring that others are free; our prosperity depends on the prosperity of others; and our security relies on a global effort to secure the rights of all.
AFL-CIO
America’s union movement. The AFL-CIO's mission is to bring social and economic justice to the US by enabling working people to have a voice on the job, in government, in a changing global economy and in their communities.
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom—limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense—through scholarly research, open debate, and publications. Founded in 1943 and located in Washington, D.C., AEI is one of America's largest and most respected "think tanks."
American Foreign Policy Council: Asia-Pacific Initiative
The Asia-Pacific Initiative (API) of the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) is dedicated to developing strategies and programs to promote democracy and deter the spread of transnational terrorism and militant fundamentalism in the strategically vital Asia-Pacific region.
Asia Foundation
The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, and open Asia-Pacific region. The Foundation supports programs in Asia that help improve governance and law, economic reform and development, women’s participation, and international relations.
Asia Society
The Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. Through art exhibitions and performances, films, lectures, seminars and conferences, publications and assistance to the media, and materials and programs for students and teachers, the Asia Society presents the uniqueness and diversity of Asia to the American people.
Atlantic Council of the United States: Program on Asia
The Atlantic Council promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting the international challenges of the 21st century. The Program on Asia seeks to promote U.S. leadership and engagement in the Asia-Pacific region to enhance prosperity, security and stability.
Brookings Institution: Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies
The Brookings Institution, one of Washington's oldest think tanks, is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to research, analysis, and public education with an emphasis on economics, foreign policy, governance, and metropolitan policy. The Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS) is a locus for research, analysis, and outreach designed to enhance policy development and understanding on the pressing political, economic, and security issues facing Northeast Asia.
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs: Human Rights
The Council was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1914 to work toward the ideal of world peace. To talk about ethics on the individual or personal level is one thing. But how can we talk about ethics in the collective, especially in the context of international affairs? "The strong do what they will, the weak do what they must." Realism, however, does not explain everything. For instance, it cannot explain the real gains we have seen in recent years in the areas of moral restraint and the evolution of international moral norms. Today it is hard to conceive of international relations—or politics itself—without the notion of human rights somewhere near the center of our thinking. Understanding how moral imperatives such as human rights—the very real weight of conscience, principle, responsibility, and restraint—affect the struggle for power and peace among nations is the unifying theme of all the work of the Carnegie Council.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Democracy and Rule of Law Project
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results. Democracy promotion has become a defining theme of U.S. foreign policy over the past two decades. Although much of the post-1989 euphoria about the global democratic trend has faded, the questions of when the United States should promote democracy abroad, how it should do so, and what effects the United States can realistically expect to have on the democratic fortunes of other countries remain major areas of debate.
Carter Center: Democracy Program
The Democracy Program works in three principal ways: conducting international election monitoring; strengthening the capacity of civic organizations to participate in government policy making; and promoting the rule of law. In all of its work, the Democracy Program incorporates a commitment to the protection and advancement of human rights values, upon which former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter founded The Carter Center.
Cato Institute: East Asia and the Pacific Research
The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. East Asian security is one of the Cato Institute's primary areas of foreign policy analysis. Our work analyzes relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China; U.S.-China relations; the American military presence in South Korea; the role of Japan as a regional power; and the unrest in Indonesia. It also calls for disentangling the United States from its implicit security commitments to countries such as Australia, the Philippines and Singapore..
Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)
Of Stanford University's Institute for International Studies. Seeks to promote innovative and practical research to assist developing countries and transitioning societies in the design and implementation of policies to foster democracy, to promote balanced and sustainable growth, and to advance the rule of law.
Center for Global Security and Democracy
The Center for Global Security and Democracy promotes the study of the complex relationship between the provision of individual and collective security, and the building and maintenance of democratic political institutions. The Center's goals are to enhance our understanding of how secure, democratic societies and international systems are created, and to develop practical initiatives for constructing and deepening such democratic and security-producing arrangements on the local and global level.
Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM)
The CIDCM is affiliated with the University of Maryland; it aims to combine theory and practice, academics and activism, economic development and civil society, technology and human needs, and is dedicated to pursuing new and better understanding about the dynamics of conflict and conflict resolution, with a special emphasis on the role of economic development and information technology in conflict-prone societies.
Center for International Policy
The Center works to promote a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights.
Center for International Private Enterprise: CIPE in Asia
The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is an independent, non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE promotes democratic and market-oriented economic reform by working directly with the private sector in developing countries. Looking into the future of Asia, the trends point toward greater economic integration. By attacking corruption, increasing transparency, and providing a model of the benefits of good corporate governance, CIPE’s regional partners are realizing this goal.
Center of International Studies
The Center is the research arm of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and supports scholarship in international relations, comparative politics, and regional studies. The Center affiliates examine such issues as the causes and control of war, the political determinants of economic development, the changing role of international relations, and the history and politics of many of the world's key nations and regions. The Center is also the home of World Politics, one of the most highly regarded journals of comparative politics and international relations in the world.
Center for Security Policy: East Asia/Pacific
Center for Strategic and International Studies: Pacific Forum
For four decades, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has been dedicated to providing world leaders with strategic insights on — and policy solutions to — current and emerging global issues. Our gateway to Asia is Pacific Forum CSIS. Based in Honolulu, Pacific Forum CSIS collaborates with a network of more than 30 research institutes around the Pacific Rim. Forum programs encompass current and emerging political, security, economic, and business issues. Brent Scowcroft chairs the board of governors of Pacific Forum CSIS, and Ralph Cossa serves as its president.
Center for the Study of Democracy
The program studies the development of new democracies and sustainable democracies in Eastern Europe, East Asia, and other regions of the world.
The Center for the Study of Democracy is an Organized Research Unit at the University of California, Irvine. The Center sponsors research and education aimed at improving the democratic process in the United States and expanding democracy around the world.
Center for World Indigenous Studies: European and Asian Documents
The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) is an independent, non-profit research and education organization dedicated to wider understanding and appreciation of the ideas and knowledge of indigenous peoples and the social, economic and political realities of indigenous nations.
Comparative Democratization Project
The Project is sponsored by the Institute for International Studies of Stanford University. Since the third wave of democratization began in 1974, more than 60 countries in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa have made transitions from authoritarian regimes (of varying duration and repressiveness) to some form of democracy (however tentative and partial). This wave of democratization, the greatest to date in the world system, represents a sea change in international relations and comparative politics. This project attempts to overcome the traditional division between academic disciplines and area studies to understand these rapid global transformations.
Council for Community of Democracies
A momentous new movement, the Community of Democracies, was launched in Warsaw, Poland, June, 2000. For the first time, a global gathering of 106 governments committed to democracy came together to develop and pursue a common agenda. The Council is a Washington-based NGO dedicated to the Community of Democracies’ cause.
Council on Foreign Relations: Asia
Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.
East West Center
The East-West Center is an internationally recognized education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen understanding and relations between the United States and the countries of the Asia Pacific region. The Center helps promote the establishment of a stable, peaceful and prosperous Asia Pacific community in which the United States is a natural, valued and leading partner.
Foreign Policy in Focus: Asia Regional Index
Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), established in 1996, seeks to make the U.S. a more responsible global leader and global partner. It is a "think tank without walls" that functions as an international network of more than 650 policy analysts and advocates. Unlike traditional think tanks, FPIF is committed to advancing a citizen-based foreign policy agenda--one that is fundamentally rooted in citizen initiatives and movements.
FPIF is a collaborative project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).
Foreign Policy Research Institute: Asia Program
Founded in 1955, FPRI is devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests. The scholars of FPRI include a former aide to three U.S. secretaries of state, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, a former president of Swarthmore College and a Bancroft Prize-winning historian, and two former staff members of the National Security Council. FPRI’s Asia Program has established itself as a leading force in the United States promoting debate and analysis of the many important developments in a region that has captured the attention of academics and policymakers alike.
Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The war on terrorism has not eclipsed East Asia's importance to the United States. America's interests in Asia are many and include trade and economic policies, alliances, and democratic reforms; but assuring peace in that region is the most important.
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace: Transition to Democratic Capitalism
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, is a public policy research center devoted to advanced study of politics, economics, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs.
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
Founded in 1976, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) is an independent and nonpartisan research and strategic planning organization that specializes in issues of national security, foreign policy, political economics, and government-industrial relations. A nonprofit organization, IFPA is associated with The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Institute for International Economics: Asia Research
The Institute for International Economics is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of international economic policy. Since 1981 the Institute has provided timely, objective analysis and concrete solutions to key international economic problems.
International Foundation for Electoral Systems: Asia Activities
The end of the Cold War in 1989 created opportunities for firms such as IFES to respond to an overwhelming demand for technical non-partisan expertise in democracy and governance. IFES plays a key role in assisting emerging and established democracies throughout Asia. IFES has conducted pre-election and election technical assessments, sociological surveys, civic and voter education initiatives, civic education projects, governance strengthening, and technology/equipment needs in ten countries over the last decade. IFES is integrally involved in several facets of Indonesia's transition to democracy. IFES maintains an office in Indonesia to support media strengthening, civic and voter education, elections assistance, legislative reform, and administrative capacity building projects. IFES has also provided electoral technical assistance and conducted surveys in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.
MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice (PHRJ)
The PHRJ is a collaborative effort between the Center for International Studies and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Established in late 2000, the Program is creating a cutting-edge inter-disciplinary environment for research, teaching, curricular development and real-world application in human rights, especially relating to the global economy and science and technology. It is the first human rights program in a leading technology school and the first in the world with a specific focus on the human rights aspects of economic, scientific and technological developments. Cross-cultural dimensions of human welfare, security and dignity animate all the activities of the Program.
National Bureau of Asian Research
The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution that conducts advanced research on policy-relevant issues in Asia. It also serves as the global clearinghouse for Asia research conducted by specialists and institutions worldwide. Through these activities NBR is uniquely positioned to promote informed and effective U.S. policy toward the region.
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs: Asia
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. Calling on a global network of volunteer experts, NDI provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. NDI works with democrats in every region of the world to build political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and to promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.
National Endowment for Democracy’s World Movement for Democracy, Asia network
The World Movement for Democracy is a global network of democrats, including activists, practitioners, academics, policy makers, and funders, who have come together to cooperate in the promotion of democracy. The Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) initiated this nongovernmental effort in February 1999 to strengthen democracy where it is weak, to reform and invigorate democracy even where it is longstanding, and to bolster pro-democracy groups in countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratic transition.
RAND Corporation: Center for Asia Pacific Policy
The RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (CAPP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary research center within RAND. CAPP's mission is to improve policy by providing decision-makers and the public with rigorous, objective, cutting-edge research on critical policy challenges facing Asia and U.S.-Asia relations.
School of International Public Affairs (SIPA)
This is a link to research centers within Columbia University’s SIPA, one of the most prestigious international studies schools in the US. Particularly relevant to the APDRC is the Center for the Study of Human Rights. The Center aims to encourage research that focuses on: 1) the social, economic, and cultural factors that cause human rights violations; 2) the impact on the observance of human rights of the global economy and of international actors such as corporations and public and private financial institutions; 3) strategies to prevent or alleviate violations in particular countries vis-à-vis particular problems; and 4) ways to improve education and training in human rights.
Stanford Institute for International Studies: Asia Pacific Research Center
The Asia/Pacific Research Center (A/PARC) is an important Stanford venue, where faculty and students, visiting scholars, and distinguished business and government leaders meet and exchange views on contemporary Asia and U.S. involvement in the region.
Weatherhead East Asia Institute
Since its establishment in 1949, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute has been the center for Asia-Pacific activities at Columbia University. With programs spanning China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and the countries of Southeast Asia, its mission is to train new generations of Asian experts in the humanities, social sciences, and professional careers as well as enhance understanding of East Asia in the wider community.
Stanley Foundation: Asia-Pacific Initiative
The Stanley Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, private operating foundation, based in Iowa. Foundation programs are focused in four strategic areas: Global Governance, US Foreign Policy, Global Education, and Media. The Asia-Pacific Initiatives (API) program will address how current developments affect prospects for the peaceful integration of Asia-Pacific states into regional and global security structures based on democracy, the rule of law, and free market economics.
University of Minnesota: Human Rights Library, Asia
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library houses one of the largest collections of more than 14,000 core human rights documents, including several hundred human rights treaties and other primary international human rights instruments. The site also provides access to more than four thousands links and a unique search device for multiple human rights sites.
University of Oregon: Asia Studies Department, Democracy & Human Rights in East & Southeast Asia
This annotated directory serves as a window on the rich Internet resources for the political units of East Asia and Southeast Asia. For both Asia in general and for the individual political units, resources are grouped by various political, social, cultural and economic categories and sub-categories. Emphasis is on non-commercial and high-quality resources. Members of the academic community may find the lists of educational and research resources for Asia, China, Japan, Korea, and Asian American Studies to be of special interest.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholar: Asia program
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars aims to unite the world of ideas to the world of policy by supporting pre-eminent scholarship and linking that scholarship to issues of concern to officials in Washington. The Asia Program provides a forum for bringing historical depth and contemporary understanding of Asia to the nation's capital.
World Policy Institute: Building Global Democracy and Human Rights research program
Since joining New School University in 1991, the World Policy Institute has sought to adapt its traditional mission of policy research and advocacy on critical world problems to the New School's tradition of creative adult education. The Project for Global Democracy and Human Rights directed by Senior Fellow Andrew Reding explores issues of democracy and human rights in the context of globalization. It identifies problems and points to solutions, with an emphasis on multilateral approaches. Ultimately, the solution to the problems of globalization is to expand democratic institutions and the rule of law to regional and global levels.
World Press Review: Asia news
For more than 30 years, World Press Review has been the only English-language magazine giving readers a first-hand look at the issues and debates that occupy the world’s newspapers and magazines. Drawing upon publications around the globe, and a network of correspondents in dozens of countries, worldpress.org illuminates the issues that barely see the light of day in the mainstream press, translating, reprinting, analyzing, and contextualizing the best of the international press from more than 20 languages.
Royal Institute of International Affairs
The Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), also known as Chatham House, is one of the world's leading institutes for the analysis of international issues. Based in London, it is the publisher of International Affairs.
Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS)
ERIS, an independent and non-political institute, is a division of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS). Since its foundation in 1884, the Society has worked for the development of democracy, in Britain and abroad, promoting