Nearly 70 percent of Nicaraguans are under the age of 30, but young people in the country remain disengaged from politics and government. They also are increasingly dissatisfied with political parties and government institutions, according to the findings of a recent NDI Democracy Survey.

In recent years, a debate has emerged among those who view democracy assistance programs as too idealistic and those who view them as too bellicose, conflated with regime change and nation-building, as in Iraq or Afghanistan. In the latest issue of the Harvard International Review, NDI President Kenneth Wollack looks at both sides of the debate and offers a third possibility — that democracy assistance continues to advance U.S.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Sudan's civil war gives Southern Sudanese the opportunity to vote next January on whether they want to secede from the north and create their own country. The credibility of this historic election will depend in part on thorough and professional election observation during the pre-, post- and election day periods to help ensure that the referendum is carried out in a transparent way.

NDI has recognized the courage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her years of sacrifice working for a democratic Burma. Suu Kyi was released Saturday after being illegally detained by Burma's military regime for 15 of the last 21 years.

"Her release marks a new chapter in the career and life of one of the world's great heroines," said NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Aung San Suu Kyi and her people, and we will do everything in our power to be supportive as she continues the struggle to bring true democracy to Burma."