The headlines of today’s papers and online news services note the celebration today of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Without doubt, each of the tributes – from the reopening of Ford’s Theater in time for a one man show to profile the man to the classroom lessons in schools throughout the country - are well deserved.

Several years ago, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo wrote Why Lincoln Matters, guided by the notion that Lincoln (and his writings) are still quite relevant to contemporary American politics. President Obama frequently cites Lincoln in his speeches and clearly stated his admiration for Lincoln in a 2005 essay for Time magazine. He cited Lincoln’s “humble beginnings,” as well as his “rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat.”

For that reason - and many others - Lincoln’s words still are relevant and perhaps today MOST relevant beyond U.S. shores he governed as the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln is widely known for his role in leading America through the dark time of the Civil War and the underlying issue of slavery. The Democracy Program, which recommended the creation of the National Endowment for Democracy (and one of the core institutes the Center for International Private Enterprise) reminded us of this when the report authors quoted Lincoln in the bipartisan report submitted to President Ronald Reagan in 1983:

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” Abraham Lincoln (1858)

And so, in our work here at CIPE, Lincoln resonates still – as we partner with groups throughout the world for basic freedoms – personal, political and economic. And what we see again in these freedoms is that they are inextricably connected.

You can find more information about Abraham Lincoln here.

On January 23, barely a week before entry deadline for the Democracy Video Challenge, I reported that more than 100 videos had been submitted. But it seems that a lot of people spent that last week putting the finishing touches on their entries: Nearly 900 films from more than 60 different countries were submitted for our judges’ consideration.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out the entries for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/democracychallenge and let me know which ones you liked the best.

If you’re interested in democracy or filmmaking and would like to meet others who share those interests, join our Facebook page.

This point is richly illustrated in America.gov’s Democracy Video Challenge, which invites the world to complete the phrase “Democracy is ….” From the entries submitted thus far, it’s clear the word evokes a lot of different interpretations. The submissions also underscore that, for many, regardless of the name applied to their current form of government, democracy is more a goal than a fact of daily life.

Some of the entries I found interesting (and I haven’t yet viewed them all) are those submitted from nations furthest removed from democratic government. Take a look at life in Burma presented by the videographer as the antithesis of democracy, or share the Chinese Dream, as it looks back at the events decades ago in Tiananmen Square and ahead to a future in which freedom of expression is the norm.

Some interesting submissions also have come from Iran: Find out what Honey has to do with democracy, or see it boiled down to its most basic element in ER.

More than 100 videos have been submitted to this contest and more are arriving every day. Does one capture your vision of democracy? Take a look and let me hear from you.

… We need you, please, to get the news OUT that we are all in a fearfully dangerous situation here. Too many people turn their backs and say – oh well, that’s what happens in Africa

This Government has GONE MAD and you need to help us publicize our plight—or how can we be rescued? It’s a reality! The petrol queues are a reality, the pall of smoke all around our city is a reality, the thousands of homeless people sleeping outside in 0 Celsius with no food, water, shelter and bedding are a reality. Today a family approached me, brother of the gardener’s wife with two small children. Their home was trashed and they will have to sleep outside. We already support [many people] on this property, and electricity is going up next month by 250% as is water.

How can I take on another family of 4 —– and yet how can I turn them away to sleep out in the open?

I am not asking you for money or a ticket out of here - I am asking you to FACE the fact that we are in deep and terrible danger and want you please to pass on our news and pictures. So PLEASE don’t just press the delete button! Help best in the way that you know how.

Do face the reality of what is going on here and help us SEND OUT THE WORD. The more people who know about it, the more chance we have of the United Nations coming to our aid. Please don’t ignore or deny what’s happening. Some would like to be protected from the truth BUT then, if we are eliminated, how would you feel? ‘If only we knew how bad it really was we could have helped in some way’.”

We’re getting the word out. Are you listening?

Hiding has been an effective strategy for other abusers. Despite widespread support for the declaration, violations continue around the world in repressive regimes that, until recently, were able to hide the true extent of their crimes. But in the age of new media, hiding is getting a lot more difficult.

The YouTube blog “Broadcasting Ourselves” cites how organizations are using video to document human rights abuses, raise awareness and promote change.

“Video continues to serve as a powerful tool to expose incidents that threaten the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And while it may be impossible to end human rights abuses everywhere, we can be grateful that there are citizens armed with cameras who help bring these abuses to light,” blogs Ramya R. of YouTube Nonprofits & Activism group.

But it’s not all about video. A question posted today on WITNESS underscores the power of pictures by asking the question “What Image Opened Your Eyes to Human Rights.?”

Other new media giving voice to the previously voiceless include cell phones, blogging and social networking.

Ultimately, 21st-century technology might be the key to realizing a promise six decades old and making the Universal Declaration truly universal. Your thoughts?

The presidential campaign has been a great story, with a former prisoner of war as one party’s candidate and the other ticket led by a face exemplifying American diversity and opportunity, promising a change in policies.

How important is it that America can change course through a peaceful transition of power? Seems important enough that al-Qaida is scrambling to tear down Barack Obama before he even takes the oath of office.

Consider how the latest piece of al-Qaida propaganda mocks Obama for the color of his skin, trying to turn a tangible, measurable sign of progress in the United States – and a willingness to change – into a liability; trying to substitute fear for hope because al-Qaida’s continued existence depends on fear.

That’s not just my opinion. See what knowledgeable sources have been telling Matt Armstrong , an expert on public diplomacy, and then tell me what you think the election of Barack Obama says about America and its role in the world.

The launch was timed to coincide with United Nations’ first International Day of Democracy. Partners for the online video contest include the State Department, democracy and youth organizations, academia, and the news, film and entertainment industries.

The contest, which asks aspiring filmmakers to complete the phrase “Democracy is …,” seeks to engage the world in sharing ideas about how democratic principles work – or could work – around the world. An independent panel of experts will identify finalists and the global audience will determine which entrants win a trip to the United States for gala screenings of their films and meetings with film industry professionals.

The competition represents another public diplomacy foray into the wired world.

“We are creating opportunities for using emerging technology to engage in a discussion of democracy,” said Jonathan Margolis, deputy coordinator of the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs, told the New York Times.

Not a filmmaker? You can still join the conversation. All voices are welcome at the Democracy Roundtable. Speak up!

Jean Rogers, deputy director of the Center for International Private Enterprise, shared her thoughts on the long road to equal opportunity in America in an entry on the CIPE Development Blog today.

Today is the 45th Anniversary of one of the most famous speeches in American history: “I have a dream.” Martin Luther King galvanized an audience of thousands as he spoke these hope-filled words from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the heart of Washington DC. The dream speech came 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln that freed slaves in the United States. King noted this and the fact that, despite that momentous step, blacks in the US still “languished in the corners of society” and lived on a “lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” They were political and economic outcasts in their own country. But they had found a voice for their grievance.

The times in which this speech was made were turbulent. American society heaved itself through change, wrenching through paroxysms of protest, pushback, violence, and small victories. Less than 3 months after King’s 1963 speech, an American president who championed change lay dead, and his successor politically strong-armed passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act as a memoriam through a reluctant Congress. It was another momentous step.

On paper, I’m too young to remember the earlier “separate but equal” approach that had been legal before CRA passage. My schools were always integrated. But practice in the deep South where I grew up took more than one law to change. I remember separate waiting rooms at the doctor’s offices and separate swimming pools in the summer. My high school class, 5 years after graduation, was the first in school history to have an integrated reunion.

The past 45 years have brought more change in the U.S., but few would say it’s been easy or become perfected. King grounded his speech in a call for the rule of law to prevail and the Constitutional promise of unalienable rights to be honored, for the nation conceived in liberty to truly provide liberty for all. He also called for economic change, recognizing that equal opportunity meant more than moving up “from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.” With many steps in these areas, both big and small, the U.S. has since become a stronger democracy.

Rule of law. Rights. Liberty. Justice. Opportunity. Stronger democracy. These resonate in many struggles still today, not just in the U.S. and not just on issues of race. I see this everyday in my work. Change is what CIPE is all about: strengthening democracy around the world. Our partners are the modern-day Martin Luther Kings of their own countries, reformers who give voice to the politically and economically dispossessed and who champion change. They often focus on the gulf between laws on paper and the practices of real life, and seek to change economies that permit only small islands of prosperity amidst vast seas of poverty.

I am reminded today in reflecting on the U.S.’s own path, that change does not come easily, that passing laws is essential and momentous but often insufficient, and that we should respect reformers, not be naïve about the difficulty of their calling, and support them as best we can. Because around the world, we all still have dreams.

What are your dreams for democracy? Share them here.

“We are disappointed that China has not used the occasion of the Olympics to demonstrate greater tolerance and openness,” U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson told a Voice of America reporter.

As part of its pre-Games planning, the Chinese government designated three Beijing parks for protests during the Olympics, but those venues went unused.

“There is a fact that there were 77 applications …. We found it unusual that none of these applications have come through with protest,” Jacques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told reporters in a post-Olympics news conference in Beijing Sunday.

He said Chinese authorities told the IOC most questions raised by the protest applicants had been addressed by “mutual agreement.”

Especially harsh criticism is coming from the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters without Borders, which called China’s performance on free expression an “Olympic disaster” in which authorities prevented journalists and bloggers from covering protests or any other subject the government deemed sensitive.

“As we feared, the Beijing Olympic games have been a period conducive to arrests, convictions, censorship, surveillance and harassment of more than 100 journalists, bloggers and dissidents,” Robert Ménard, the organization’s secretary-general, said. “This repression will be remembered as one of the defining characteristics of the Beijing games.”

Acts of repression cited by the organization included 22 foreign journalists attacked, arrested or obstructed during the games; at least 50 Beijing-based human rights activists placed under house arrest, harassed or forced to leave; at least 15 Chinese citizens arrested for requesting permission to demonstrate; dozens, including the blogger Zhou “Zola” Shuguang and the handicapped petitioner Chen Xiujuan, physically prevented by police from traveling to Beijing; and at least 47 pro-Tibet activists, mostly from Students for a Free Tibet, arrested in Beijing.

Many had hoped the Olympics would crack open the door to greater freedom of expression in China. Some are finding that crack as tiny as a sprinter’s margin of victory.

“International communities or countries besides China and Russia, which support the governing system of Mugabe, have absolutely little influence for the changing attitude of Mugabe’s governing system, which is based on intimidation, power-centralization in the hand of Mugabe. China and Russia are playing cards with the innocent lives of people for their political and economical benefits. Such games to challenge not only US but also the international communities have been played long though the consequences of this game cost indescribable destruction for a nation, by and large, and a great deal of lives of innocent people.

People can simply understand the move made by China and Russia, yet these both coutries by human hearts and conscience must not embrace and support Mugabe since these both countries are accountable in the sufferings and killing of people under the Mugabe’s governing system.”

Is it possible for the world community to effectively push for improvements in Zimbabwe without cooperation from China and Russia?