After thinking it over last night, here’s how I would summarize it: These seven NGOs (eight if you count the off-the-chart Solidarity Center) together function as an "off-the-books" shadow U.S. government.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created to unify the U.S. against communism. Its four core organizations reflect a neat ideological symmetry of America’s two-party system:
➜CIPE pushes free-market policies, Solidarity Center represents labor and unions.
➜IRI serves Republican interests, and NDI aligns with the Democrats.
CEPPS is another umbrella group that includes IRI and NDI but also brings in IFES under the guise of fortifying election integrity.
And to make sure the narrative sticks, Internews Network spreads these viewpoints through global media.
Most of these NGOs were born during the Reagan years. While not all USAID and State Department funding flows through them, they control the purse strings for much of America’s global financial influence.
DEI initiatives created a system of unaccountability and dependency, which ended up injecting more money into them and further entrenches their power.
They see any challenge to their authority as a threat to democracy itself. But their greatest enemy is still the same one they've had since the Cold War—Russia. They've never lost the "Cold War" boomer mindset.
In their minds, they’re the superheroes keeping America from crumbling. And that entitles them to their travel perks, cushy post-election gigs, and all the other benefits that come with running an unacknowledged empire.
