NED

The National Endowment for Democracy, or the NED, is a US deep state soft power apparatus which finances destabilization campaigns in countries targeted by the American Empire.

In the late 1980s, the NED's president Carl Gersshman admitted that the NED does the same thing as the CIA, but using covert means rather than overt means. Allen Weinstein, who helped write the law creating the NED, said the same thing.

It is currently run by Damon Wilson who was previously at the Atlantic Council and has written for Bellingcat.

Front organizations

According to anti-imperialist William Blum, the NED usually launders money through:

1. the International Republican Institute (IRI)
2. the National Democratic Institute (NDI)
3. an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, such as the American Center for International Labor Solidarity
4. an affiliate of the Chamber of Commerce, such as the Center for International Private Enterprise.

From there, the money flows to liberal organizations.

From 1994 to 1996, NED awarded over $2.5 million to the American Institute for Free Labor Development. One of the grants describes an objective as "build union-management cooperation". In other words, the CIA's goal is to prevent the independent organization of the working class. To this end, they will often pay off unions like the AFL-CIO.