Friedrich Naumann Foundation

[Magda Hassan]

Neoliberal Networking
2008/07/01

BERLIN/LA PAZ/ROSARIO
(Own report) - The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF, affiliated with the German Free Democratic Party, FDP) has initiated a new program for networking neoliberal forces throughout Latin America including opposition forces from Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. The online-project, launched on Monday June 30, will last two months and is aimed, among other things, at "liberal political leaders and their action groups". The objective is to prepare the participants to seek, through neoliberal political methods, "solutions to current socio-political and economic problems". The FNF is cooperating, in this project, with the "Red Liberal de América Latina" (RELIAL), a network linking 46 organizations from 17 countries of the sub-continent, founded at the initiative of the FNF in 2003. By propagating liberal market concepts, RELIAL is in open opposition particularly to the governments in Caracas and La Paz, who reject these models. The support RELIAL members are giving Bolivian and Venezuelan secessionist movements is a highly explosive issue. With its activities, the state subventioned FNF has already been provoking public protests in Latin America.


The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) is organizing the online seminar "Pensamiento Liberal Contemporáneo. Enfoques Básicos" (Contemporary Liberal Thought. Basic Positions) in cooperation with the RELIAL network that was founded at FNF'S initiative. The seminar began Monday, June 30 and is aimed toward "liberal political leaders and their action groups" as well as "members of institutions and organizations close to liberalism."[1] Through internet the participants are detached from their local bonds, facilitating cooperation throughout the subcontinent. Besides ideological training, the seminar will also discuss the "potential (of liberalism, gfp) for solutions to current socio-political and economic problems".[2] Only members of FNF and RELIAL can participate.

RELIAL
RELIAL was founded at FNF's initiative at the end of 2003. At that time, movements in opposition to neoliberalism were gaining prominence in Latin America and were striving to establish a power bloc that is less dependant on the EU and the USA. Today Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia (since 2005) form the nucleus of this tendency. RELIAL is opposed to state intervention in the economy and propagates the opening of Latin American markets to western industrial states. It links neoliberal political organizations throughout the subcontinent, from Tierra del Fuego to the southern border of the United States. The network unites political parties, educational and research centers, think tanks, foundations and liberal youth organizations.[3] Currently 46 organizations from 17 countries including opposition forces from Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia are members of RELIAL.[4]

Internet as Platform
The FNF has repeatedly used the internet as a platform for events, such as the online seminar that was launched Monday, June 30. In 2005, in association with its partner organization, the "Instituto de Estudos Avancados" (IEA, Sao Paulo), the FNF initiated, as a first step, a virtual platform for municipal officials from the Brazilian federal state of Rio Grande do Sul entitled Kommunal Praxis Online - KPO (Municipal Experience Online). This first step, as explained by the foundation, was to engage, through the "interactive transfer of data," a steadily "growing network of liberal mayors and municipal council members" with liberal urban and community governments "supporting them in their concrete tasks and aiding them in the active development of digital communication structures".[5] But in fact these networks strengthen neoliberal positions as well as the personnel engaged in this mission.

Strategic Policy Planning
Last year RELIAL, for the first time, carried out an online seminar, aimed at the entire spectrum of the Latin American neoliberal elite, beyond all considerations of nationality or function. Entitled "Planificación Estratégico-Política" (Strategic Policy Planning) the seminar, which ran from August to November 2007, was designed to impart to the participants an understanding of "planning, strategies, objectives, plans of action, leadership, communication and marketing."[6] The current online seminar is a sequel. The spectrum of potential participants coincide for the 2 courses, the continuity is assured through the closed character of the seminar. As with the establishment of the earlier internet network of municipal functionaries, the Brazilian "Instituto de Estudos Avancados" has been entrusted with organizing this seminar.

Secessionists
An example taken from the Bolivian policy demonstrates how the neoliberal opposition can be strengthened in states such as Venezuela and Bolivia, when linked into a network under the auspices of RELIAL. Some of the RELIAL groups are linked to regionalists, currently threatening the territorial integrity of several Latin American nations with their secessionist demands. Among these are Bolivia and Venezuela.[7] The FULIDE ("Fundación Libertad y Democracia"), a Bolivian RELIAL member, openly supports the autonomy referendums carried out by the regional prefectures over the past few weeks, in disregard of the verdict of the electoral court. FULIDE has been active toward this objective for the past few years. Already in the fall of 2006, representatives of this organization participated in a regionalist symposium in Ecuador.[8] Since it joined RELIAL, FULIDE is well integrated into the Latin American-wide network. In the meantime the entire RELIAL network supports the autonomy referendums. Last year, observers were warning against a "Balkanization of South America."[9]

Adversaries
But resistance is growing in Latin America to the activities of the FNF and RELIAL. Hefty protests took place on the occasion of the 3rd RELIAL Congress, in the Argentine port city Rosario in March. Angry demonstrators threw stones at the bus bringing the FNF Chairman Wolfgang Gerhardt to the congress.[10] There it was informally made known that the FNF intends to supplement its growing Latin American activities with high-visibility PR actions. It is said that in the Paul's Church in Frankfurt, November 8, 2008, the FNF will award its next "Freedom Prize" to a prominent Latin American personality, the Peruvian author, Mario Vargas Llosa. Vargas Llosa is a declared adversary of the Venezuelan and Bolivian presidents, Hugo Cháves and Evo Morales.

[1], [2] RELIAL convoca al Seminario online 'Pensamiento Liberal Contemporáneo. Enfoques Básicos'; http://www.relial.org 21.05.2008
[3] Aktivitäten in Lateinamerika; http://www.la.fnst-freiheit.org
[4] Integrantes; http://www.relial.org
[5] Aktivitäten in Lateinamerika; http://www.la.fnst-freiheit.org
[6] Planificación Estratégico-Política; ffn.iea.org.br
[7] In Venezuela ist vor allem der Bundesstaat Zulia betroffen. Venezolanische Rechte übt Separatismus; http://www.amerika21.de 20.05.2008
[8], [9] see also The Balkanization of South America
[10] Lateinamerika: Gerhardt warnt vor autoritärem Populismus; Presse-Info der Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung 31.03.2008

[Jan Klimkowski]

Friedrich Naumann was:

a German nationalist who had annexionist ideals during the First World War, Naumann believed that the Netherlands and Flanders should become a part of Germany. Together with Weber, he worked for an institute which supported a mooted German annexation of Poland in 1915 and 1916.

He is the author of Mitteleuropa, a book on the geopolitics of Central Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Naumann

The Mitteleuropa plan was to achieve a hegemony over Central Europe by the German Empire and subsequent economical exploitation of this region combined with territorial annexations, settlement of German colonists, expulsion of non-Germans from annexed areas and eventual Germanization of puppet states created as buffer between Germany and Russia.

The issue of Central Europe was taken by German thinker Fredrich Neumann in 1915 in his work “Mitteleuropa”. According to his thought, this part of Europe was to become a politically and economically integrated block subjected to German rule. In his program, Neumann also supported programs of Germanization and Hungarization as well[4]. Some parts of the planning included designs on creating a German colony in Crimea and colonization of Baltic States[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteleuropa

I'll meet you in Poland, baby....

:thefinger::thefinger::thefinger:

[Jan Klimkowski]

Just noticed the curious misspelling of Naumann's surname in wiki's Mitteleuropa article. However, our Friedrich is the geopolitical philosopher in question.

Perhaps Naumann's current fanclub don't want his intellectual history exploring.

Here's some of what Mitteleuropa envisaged:

The whole region was to serve as economical backyard of Germany whose economical exploitation would enable it to compete with the British Empire and any other competitors for the position of the world's dominant power[6]. Economical organization was to be based on German domination, with unfair economical treaties imposed on countries like Poland and Ukraine. It was believed that the German working classes could be appeased by German politicians through economical benefits of territorial annexations, settlement of Germans in Central and Eastern Europe and economical exploitation of conquered countries for the material benefit of Germany[7].

The local population was to be subject to expulsions to make room for German settlers, in other places it would be reduced to second class citizens as Germans would become the ruling elite of German run-puppet states[7].

Additionally, the German Mitteleuropa plan had foreseen expulsion of over 2 million Poles and Jews from 30,000 square kilometers annexed from Congress Poland replaced by German colonists[6]. The puppet state of the Kingdom of Poland was to have its population gradually reduced by the use of artificially created famine[8][9].

Partial realization of these plans was reflected in the Brest-Litovsk treaty, where guarantees of economical and military domination over Ukraine by Germany were laid out[10]

The Mitteleuropa plan served as blueprint for the much more expanded, racially-motivated and harsher plans of Nazi Germany during the Second World War such as Generalplan Ost[6].

[Jan Klimkowski]

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (German: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit) (FNF) is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party. Established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, it promotes individual freedom and liberalism.

The Foundation follows the ideals of the Protestant theologian, Friedrich Naumann. At the beginning of the last century, Naumann was a leading German liberal thinker and politician.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_N...Foundation

:vollkommenauf:

The Nazi International is now editing wiki....

[Magda Hassan]

Thanks for that very interesting background Jan. In doing a quick search yesterday about the FNF there was actually very little information about them. There were many glossy and superficial websites which they have set up around the world but little in the way of real information on who funds them and where they get their money from and how they use it exactly. Which can only make me think...secrets...something to hide....etc.

[Magda Hassan]

Naumann-Networks
2009/07/13

GUMMERSBACH
(Own report) - Through its "academy", the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, affiliated with the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) is directing the creation of a world-wide lobbying network. The Naumann-Foundation's "International Academy for Leadership" is located in Gummersbach (North Rhine-Westphalia). One finds among its Alumni not only politicians of the Honduran putschist PLH party but also high-ranking officials and opinion makers from Mexico, Pakistan, Malaysia, and numerous other countries. At the academy, the alumni received training in the development and implementation of strategic concepts and are encouraged to maintain contact with the German foundation even after the seminars - also via internet. The Academy is in constant contact with the Foundation's regional offices abroad, coordinating the FDP's local lobbying. The Naumann networks are already spanning all continents and include several thousand executives, including government officials.


Executives
The Friedrich-Naumann Foundation's International Academy for Leadership (IAF) was established in the early 1990s and is, since 1995, located at the Foundation's Theodor Heuss Academy in Gummersbach in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia. The target groups include local employees of the foundation's regional overseas offices as well as those of partner organizations, but particularly "eminent leaders and multipliers from politics, the economy, science, the media and the security sector." The academy is particularly courting "young leaders from liberal parties" all around the world. The IAF offers seminars covering several weeks, workshops and informational tours while initiating talks in Germany and other European countries with "political parties and associations at enterprises, organisations and projects" but also at government levels. The discussion topics include economics, the media and issues of security.[1]

Strategy and Implementation
The academy distinguishes between various activities depending on the specific purpose. Whereas conferences for think tanks and other "eminent leaders" are expected to provide "new impulses and possible solutions for central questions in terms of world politics," the seminars "for leaders" clearly focus on concrete projects. With the "management level" of foreign parties, media, administration, the judiciary or the military, the IAF is seeking the "creation of liberal development and social and economic political concepts." Another main focus "lies in the strategic implementation planning of existing concepts" based on the respective "requirements in the project countries." The programs provide an opportunity for "the building of multinational bridges and the creation of new levels of contacts," explains the Naumann-Foundation regarding the new opportunities to win influence.[2]

Internet
The academy is focusing particularly on the creation of alumni networks among former participants in its programs. Besides the traditional networking, between the foundation's regional offices, the academy is increasingly using the internet to link up foreign elites. Participants of IAF programs are not only being prepared through online-seminars for courses and information tours in Germany. Subsequent to their participation in a seminar in Gummersbach, they will have the opportunity of joining a "global network on specific themes." The discussions in these online forums will not only be carried out in English but also in Spanish - a clear indication of the foundations primary focus on Latin America.[3]

Eminent Advisors
The work of the Nauman-Foundation in Latin America is currently drawing attention, because the FDP affiliated organization has conspicuously been supporting the Honduran putschists. Their party, the Partido Liberal de Honduras (PLH), is closely cooperating with this German foundation, and several of the foundation's IAF alumni had already been named ministers and vice ministers before the putsch (german-foreign-policy.com reported [4]). Even though the Naumann Foundation has contact to numerous IAF alumni In Mexico, it has not been quite as successful there. The alumni include the chairman of the liberal Nueva Alianza Party's caucus in Mexico City's municipal parliament, a law professor, who has been drafting a constitution for the Federal District of Mexico City, ministry functionaries, parliamentarians and "lawyers in eminent government advisory positions."[5] Balbina Flores, the "Reporters without Borders" Mexico correspondent is also among the IAF alumni.

Opinion Makers
The foundation's networking is not limited to Latin America. In Pakistan, it can rely on about 100 alumni, it is trying to bring together in the FreedomGate Pakistan (FGP) network, among them, the former director of an influential "National Reconstruction Bureau" government agency and a prominent TV moderator. FreedomGate Pakistan began to organize its own seminars, in cooperation with the IAF. "FreedomGate Pakistan, the network of liberal thinkers, is slowly developing into a think tank, supporting liberal ideas in Pakistan," according to the academy.[6] A similar development can be registered by the Naumann Foundation in Malaysia, where IAF alumni are also organizing their own seminars in cooperation with the academy "to share knowledge and practical work experience with fellow citizens working in the fields of politics and human rights."[7]

On all Continents
The networking of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation's "International Academy for Leadership" is spanning all continents linking a growing number of the urban elites to the German state financed organization. In some countries, such as Honduras, the foundation has its connections all the way up into the government. The number of people who have had close contact to the academy, provides an idea of its significance. According to the foundation, "more than 4000 participants from all regions of the world, have already passed through the IAF."[8]

[1], [2] Internationale Akademie für Führungskräfte (IAF); http://www.freiheit.org
[3] International e-Academy for Leadership; http://www.freiheit.org
[4] see also The Naumann Caucus and Ein Amtsenthebungsverfahren
[5] Mexiko: Liberale Führungskräfte in Justiz und Politik; http://www.freiheit.org
[6] Pakistan: Öffentlichkeit beeindruckt von FreedomGate; http://www.freiheit.org
[7] FAN Training: Strategic Political Communication; http://www.fnfasia.org
[8] Pakistan: Die Flamme der Freiheit brennt; http://www.freiheit.org
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56264

[Jan Klimkowski]

Magda - thanks, very interesting.

The FDF is clearly a creeper infiltration cult, whose aim is to thread its tentacles into sources of power across the globe.

Friedrich Naumann was one of the key "intellectual" and "philosophical" godfathers of the Nazi racist, mass murdering, concept of Lebensraum.

This cannot be repeated too many times.

Schwarze Sonne - we're watching. :ciao:

[Magda Hassan]

Friedrich Naumann Stiftung

From SourceWatch


[/url]
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) "is the Foundation for liberal politics. Established in 1958 by [url=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Theodor_Heuss&action=edit]Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, it promotes individual freedom and liberalism.
"The Foundation follows the ideals of the protestant theologian, Friedrich Naumann. At the beginning of the last century, Naumann was a leading German liberal thinker and politician. He resolutely backed the idea of civic education. Naumann believed that a functioning democracy needs politically informed and educated citizens. According to him, civic education is a prerequisite for political participation and thus for democracy.
"In this regard, the Foundation is an agent of organized liberalism. It promotes this through civic education, international political dialogues, and political counselling. The Foundation has numerous offices in Europe, Africa, America and Asia. It also enjoys close links with Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Liberal International (LI)." [1]
Recent News

"Liberal International (LI) and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and the Taiwan Fund for Democracy, organized the conference “Strengthening Networks and Combating Human Trafficking” in Taipei, Taiwan from December 7-10 2007. Hosted by the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan (DPP), the conference was designed to create awareness of human trafficking in Asia, to analyze its dynamics and to work out policy responses. It also looked at the role of liberal parties and parliamentarians in the promotion and protection of human rights." [2]
Contact

Web: http://www.fnst-freiheit.org

• Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre
  
• National Endowment for Democracy
  
• Albert Einstein Institution
  
• UN Watch
  
• American Jewish Committee
  
• International Campaign for Tibet
  
• Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World
  
• Manfred Ziemek
  
• Civic Forum Institute
  
• Arab Thought Forum
  
• Palestinian Youth Union
  

References

1. ↑ About, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, accessed December 24, 2007.
   
2. ↑ Strengthening Networks and Combating Human Trafficking: LI and CALD Hold a Conference on Human Rights, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, accessed December 24, 2007.
   

[Magda Hassan]

Friedrich Naumann Foundation

From SpinProfiles

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) is a German "independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that is committed to promoting liberal policy and politics." [1] Inspired by the principles of Liberalism, it aims to advance the value of human rights, the rule of law, liberal democracy and the free market economy.
FNF is partly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development. FNF is active in the Middle East, it has had offices in Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco. The main objective of its work in the Middle East is to reinforce the "advancement of liberal forces in Israel and the advancement of understanding between the Jewish majorities and the Arab minorities in Israel." [2]
In many ways, FNF is similar to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, and to a lesser extent the National Endowment for Democracy or the Open Society Institute. All these foundations aim to influence the political and social climate in key countries under the guise of fostering "liberal" values or "civil society". Just like WFD, FNF is a sinecure for some of its politicians, a platform to become involved in foreign policy, a means to weather years out of office and a route back into government.
FNF works with the American Jewish Committee in organizing events and hosting each others' researchers/operatives. The aim is to promote understanding and combat intolerance of ethnic groups. [3]
Activities

FNF provides training for election observers in various countries. For example, in Ghana, FNF worked alongside the Ghana Center For Democratic Development (CDD) to train over 5,500 observers for the 2000 elections. [4] FNF works in co-operation with partner organisations throughout Germany and abroad to promote and extend democratic practices. [5] FNF acts as a think tank where out-of-office politicians can hang out before entering politics or government. Policy papers aim to influence contemporary policy. FNF offers scholarships to foreign students to pursue post-graduate degrees in Germany. [6]
Principals

Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees Walter Scheel - Chairman of honour Jürgen Morlok - Chairman Peter Menke-Glückert, Vice Chairman Karl-Hans Laermann, Vice Chairman Thomas Bach Hans D. Barbier Bruno Benthien Hinrich Enderlein Dieter Fertsch-Röver Ulrich Fickel Richard Fudickar Josef M. Gerwald Ulrich Goll Helmut Haussmann Peter Jeutter Detlef Kleinert Günter Kröber Karl-Ulrich Kuhlo Heinz Lanfermann Walter Rasch Horst Rehberger MdL Hermann Rind Peter-Emil Rupp Cornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen Helmut Schmidt Renate Schneider Hermann Otto Solms Ruth Wagner Joachim Werren Source [7] ===Board of Directors=== [8]

• Wolfgang Gerhardt President
  
• Jürgen Morlok Chairman
  
• Wolf-Dieter Zumpfort VP
  
• Axel Hoffmann VP
  
• Manfred Richter Treasurer
  
• Hubertus Müller-Groeling
  
• Irmgard Schwaetzer
  
• Rolf Berndt Exec. Chairman
  

Representatives

• Manfred Ziemek -- Representative in Istambul, Turkey
  
• Alexander Mohr -- Former representative in Zimbabwe
  

Affiliations

• American Jewish Committee (works together with FNF on various projects; see AJC Weekly Update #217)
  
• UN Watch
  

Contact

• Friedrich Naumann Foundation Website (German): www.fnst.de
  
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation Website (Philippines): www.fnf.org.ph
  
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation Website (Southeast Asia): www.fnfasia.org
  
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation Website (Africa): www.africa.fnst.org
  

External Resources

• Mel Frykberg, Palestinian article describes German government payments to NGOs to influence public opinion, Jerusalem Times, 26 February 2002.
  

External Links

• Friedrich Naumann Foundation (English) http://www.fnst-freiheit.org/webcom/show...705/i.html
  

Memorable Quotes

"The idea of liberalism has to be recreated. In the course of time it has lost so much of its clarity and attraction that it first has to rise like a new dawn in front of the people." Friedrich Naumann (1906) [9]
References

1. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, About Us (Accessed 26 August 2007)
   
2. ^ Mel Frykberg, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Jerusalem Times [Palestinian publication], 26 February 2002.
   
3. ^ American Jewish Committee, Testimony to the Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe
   
4. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Ghana
   
5. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation Africa, Training in Freedom
   
6. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Our Scholarship Programme
   
7. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Board of Trustees
   
8. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Board of Directors
   
9. ^ Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Political principles
   
10. http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Fr...n_Stiftung
    

[Magda Hassan]

A Relaxed and Comfortable Putsch
2010/05/18

BANGKOK/BERLIN
(Own report) - Following last weekend's bloodbath, the government in Thailand - led by long-time partners of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FDP) - is threatening to continue its use of military force against mass protests in Bangkok. As observers note, the escalating confrontation between demonstrators demanding new elections and the army is bringing Thailand "to the brink of civil war". The country's old elite - made up of the military, big industry and the royal dynasty - fear that the growing democratic movement will restrict their predominance. Some in the old elite, particularly the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, have for years already been cooperating with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Alone since Mai 14, they are responsible for the deaths of at least 36 protesters. The Naumann Foundation had shown sympathy toward a putsch by the traditional elite in 2006 and the subsequent, heavily contested outlawing of a popular party, because "it could not have been done democratically". The assistant, who was responsible for the Naumann Foundation's activities at the time and for the support of the traditional elites from 2007 to 2009, is today head of the Asia department in the German Ministry for Development.


Snipers
In the aftermath of the Thai military's bloody attacks on the massive protests, accounting for 36 deaths [1] since May 14, the situation in the Thai capital is threatening to escalate. Observers expect that the soldiers will renew their attacks and consider Thailand to be "on the brink of civil war."[2] 25 people have already been killed - some by snipers - in April.[3] Yesterday, one of the leaders of the protest demonstrations died of wounds he sustained last Thursday. A sniper shot him in the head, while he was being interviewed by a New York Times reporter.

Old Elite Opposing Democracy
This escalating conflict derives from Thailand's old elite's fear of a loss of their ruling power. This elite is made up of the military, big industry and the monarchy. Up to the putsch in 2006, the Prime Minister at the time, Thaksin Shinawatra, had, at times governed contrary of the interests of this old elite, but because he had fulfilled the wishes of the impoverished greater portion of the population, he could always win the elections. The military and the Democrat Party, put in power by the military, have not been able to silence the demands for democratization, which have been growing stronger since Thaksin's overthrow. With their protests, which are spreading from Bangkok to other regions of Thailand, the "red shirts" are primarily demanding the resignation of the Abhisisit (Democrat Party) government and new elections.[4] The Abhisit government was put into power in December 2008, above all through military pressure.

Merely Show Presence
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation (affiliated with the German Free Democratic Party - FDP) had taken the side of the establishment and the putschists in this conflict between Thailand's traditional elite and the growing democracy movement already years ago. This has become clear also through the foundation's position statements about the elite's military putsch in September 2006, to insure its maintaining power. Immediately following the putsch against Thaksin, one associate of the Naumann Foundation declared from Thailand that she does "not feel endangered" by the soldiers patrolling the streets of Bangkok, "from the way they are behaving, they are more there to show presence than to fight anyone."[5] "If this is supposed to be a coup d'état" it is a "relaxed and comfortable" putsch. Television stations are even showing people offering "flowers to the soldiers." "Can the population's positive attitude be taken as a legitimation of the military putsch?" the foundation's associate asked. "As a political scientist" she must "say that a military putsch is undemocratic," but the country, under overthrown President Thaksin's rule "had not been more democratic than it is now." Thaksin had won the last election with a clear majority.

"Democratically Impossible"
Showing a similar amount of understanding, the Naumann Foundation supported, at the end of 2008, the old elite's successful efforts to again overthrow Thaksin's supporters, who had come to power through elections. Thaksin's and his supporter's policies have "in fact bettered the situation of the impoverished population" writes the foundation. Since Thaksin's party therefore "has great popularity" in the population, it was "democratically impossible to drive it from office." The traditional elite had recognized this and made the country ungovernable by occupying the parliament and the airports. It was eventually possible to bring the old establishment back to power, with the help of the justice system, which had outlawed the party of Thaksin's supporters, reported the Naumann Foundation, shortly after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took office in December 2008.[6] Abhisit's Democrat Party, which came to power with military help, is a "long-time partner of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom."

Partners and Friends
Following Abhisit's taking office, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation continued its support for the Democrat Party - which had now come to power - with the obvious objective of securing that party's position. The foundation's advisors and the FDP, the foundation's mother party, counseled activists of the Democrat Party in how to use party activities to build ties to the population and how "political strategies and strategies for political youth organizations" can be successfully applied.[7] At the end of 2009, along with high-ranking advisors of the Democrat Party, including Foreign Minister Kasis Piromya, advisors of the Naumann Foundation made an evaluation of their previous cooperation and discussed future cooperation. The German ambassador to Thailand was also in attendance at this "Annual Meeting with Partners and Friends". At the end of March 2010, though the demonstrations were already taking place, Wolfgang Gerhardt, Chairman of the Naumann Foundation, was in Bangkok for talks with the leading politicians of the Democrat Party.[8] On April 7, just a few days before Abhisit's government sent its military snipers against the peaceful demonstrators, a delegation of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation was unexpectedly forced to interrupt their meeting in the Thai parliament - protest demonstrators had forced their way into the building.

A Necessary Evil
The director of the foundation's international policy section headquarters in Potsdam has the last say in giving the orientation for Naumann Foundation's activities in Thailand. From 2007 - 2009, this section was headed by Harald Klein, who just a few weeks after becoming section director in 2007, visited Thailand to learn first-hand about the foundation's activities. Klein spoke also to Abhisit, who, at that time, had not yet become prime minister, but was already chairman of the Democrat Party, and he was debriefed on the foundation's projects. A photo published on the internet by the Naumann Foundation, shows an advisor in the course of Klein's debriefing on the "Thailand Project". On the screen depicting the project, one can read the allegation that a "coup d'état is a necessary evil" - supposedly in a "democratization process". (Here a segment of the photo.[9])

Questions of Principle
Since the beginning of this year, Harald Klein, to whom, at that time, this allegation had been expressed, has become section director in the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development under the FDP Minister Dirk Niebel.[10] He is responsible for "Asia/Latin America" and "questions of principle."

Further information on Friedrich Naumann Foundation can be found at: The Olympic Torch Relay Campaign, Operations against China, Neoliberal Networking, The Naumann Caucus and Friends of the Monarchy.

[1] Regierung kündigt Räumung an; derstandard.at 17.05.2010
[2] Wirkungslose Ultimaten an die "Rothemden"; http://www.faz.net 17.05.2010
[3] see also Das Netzwerk Monarchie
[4] see also Friends of the Monarchy
[5] Thailand: Der seltsam ruhige Putsch; http://www.freiheit.org 22.09.2006
[6] Thailand: Liberale Oppositionspartei stellt neue Regierung; Bericht aus aktuellem Anlass No. 73/08, http://www.freiheit.org 15.12.2008
[7], [8] see also Friends of the Monarchy
[9] Das Originalfoto finden Sie im Artikel "Neuer Leiter des IPZ auf Informationsreise in Asien" auf http://www.freiheit.org sowie hier: http://www.freiheit.org/files/617/193/so...0_4123.JPG
[10] see also Ministry to Accompany Expansion