The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

AMMAN, Jordan – An international observation delegation fielded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) said yesterday’s Jordanian parliamentary elections saw a marked improvement in procedures and administration from past polls.  But it also found election day shortcomings and irregularities, as well as a number of systemic distortions.

Paul Bonicelli asks if, over the next four years, the Obama administration will base its foreign policy on the same ideals of freedom and equality that were celebrated in his second inaugural address. He notes that “if the character and reputation we have and want to keep is one of a beacon of democracy and a friend to it everywhere, then surely we are obligated to put actions to our words.”

At the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai last month, 193 governments met to discuss revising the principles that govern the U.N.’s International Telecommunications Union. Though an effort was made by “those governments that hunger for more control” such as China, Russia and Iran to pass a resolution that would “provide a veneer of political cover” for Internet censorship, the U.S. and other countries committed to a free Internet refused to sign the agreement.

As Congress continues to scrutinize the federal budget, we should “further integrate the themes of democracy and good governance into our international development dialogue,” rather than decrease democracy support programs, writes Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State and NDI chairman, along with former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, former U.S. Congressman Vin Weber and Daniel F. Runde, director of the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Though French military intervention will help force rebels in Mali to retreat, it is only a temporary solution, according to The University of Wisconsin’s Scott Straus and Leif Brottemis. The French, “who are now investing so much blood and treasure, while exposing themselves to serious political risk,” need to start rethinking how they put Mali back together—primarily by rebuilding the country’s political process.

AMMAN, Jordan – The National Democratic Institute (NDI) will field an international observation delegation for the Jan. 23 parliamentary elections in Jordan. The group, which includes 50 observers from 29 countries, is made up of a former head of state, former ambassadors and parliamentarians, current and former political party leaders, election officials, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and regional specialists.

The New York Times Editorial Board writes that France’s airstrikes have so far failed to stop the advance of Islamist rebels southward in Mali. Containing these militias “and the threat they pose to West Africa and the wider world is essential.” But the task of reclaiming the north belongs to Mali’s army and its West African allies. Until Mali’s army is able to reclaim the north, extremist groups will “continue terrorizing the people of that region.”

Landry Signé, a fellow in the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, writes that democratic nations have a duty to “safeguard popular rule in neighboring lands.”