CD Seminar Addresses Implications of the Economic Crisis on Global Democracy Promotion

From March 23-24, the Portuguese Chair of the Community of Democracies hosted a Seminar in Lisbon to examine the ways in which the Community of Democracies can strengthen its democracy promotion policies in light of the global economic and financial crisis.  The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized the event in partnership with the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal and the Portuguese Institute for International Relations (IPRI), with representatives of government and civil society leaders from around the world present.

Luís Amado, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Portugal, opened the Lisbon Seminar by noting the dramatic changes in the world since the launch of the Community of Democracies in 2000.  He said that the attacks of September 11, the American war in Iraq, and now the global financial crisis presented new challenges to democracies and multilateralism more broadly.  He argued that the role of the state needs to be redefined so that it can respond effectively to needs of society, and that the current crisis reveals a political failure to address the changes brought about by the spread of the liberal market economy throughout the world.  He concluded that this crisis is the beginning of a long and complex process of reconfiguring geopolitical realities, and that cooperation among nations will be essential to the successful resolution of the crisis.

Nuno Mota Pinto, Executive Director of the World Bank, next presented a characterization of the global crisis to set the scene for the discussions to follow.  He described globalization as being at a crossroads, reminding participants that the protectionism between the two World Wars was accompanied by deep suspicion among nations.  Since periods of economic growth have historically been the times when social and political rights have been expanded, he also warned that this crisis poses serious challenges for democracy and human rights.  While economic growth increases the prospects for democratic development, he said that growth alone is not sufficient.  Where people are free to organize, societal inequalities are better addressed, so maintaining support for democratic rights around the world is essential.

Members of the nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies (ISC/CD) played a key role throughout the Seminar.  George Mathew, Director of the Institute for Social Science in New Delhi, opened the second workshop with a discussion of the essential place of civil society in the democratic process.  He said that wherever civil society is active, the prospect for democracy is far better, as an active civil society promotes protection for freedom of the press, strong political parties, an independent judiciary, and other institutions necessary for the functioning of democracy.  He said that in India, despite the enormous costs of holding elections and the severe poverty throughout the country, civil society recognizes the importance of elections and does not protest the cost.

Serving as rapporteur for the second workshop, ISC/CD Chair Paul Graham commented that India benefits from a 60-year democratic trajectory, and other poor countries without that foundation have less optimistic prospects for consolidating democracy, especially in light of the pressures applied by the economic crisis.  He suggested that while many countries in the CD, including India, are wary of actions that would seem to interfere in other countries’ affairs, India’s experience holds great potential lessons for other countries.  If India would be willing to host interested visitors from other countries to share the Indian experience, this would be a cooperative way that the CD could support democracy.  Mathew agreed that such a process may be able to accommodate the discomfort that India and other countries have with trying to “export” democracy to neighbors while still taking advantage of the forum that the CD provides for sharing democratic lessons and experiences.

ISC/CD member Mort Halperin led a review of the development of the CD and its future prospects for Workshop Three of the Seminar.  He said that the launch of the CD in 2000 came about as a celebration that democracies had been established on all corners of the world, in rich and poor countries, and was clearly no longer an idea that could be labeled a Western idea only.  International support for democratic transition and consolidation was believed to be vital, but only as a means of supporting those countries that decided they wanted to move on a path toward democracy. 

Halperin noted that despite the skepticism of many observers of the CD, the number of invited participants has been reduced since the initial Warsaw meeting.  The CD has shown a willingness to recognize backsliding in countries formerly deemed democratic and to withhold a renewed invitation to these countries.  However, he suggested that there are several steps that can be taken to make the CD a more relevant actor in the world.   He said that the CD needs to provide assistance to countries trying to establish democratic institutions.  He identified Liberia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan as countries that could use assistance from the CD.  He also urged the CD to react to threats to democracy in the world, noting the silence from the CD in response to the recent coup in Madagascar.  He also reminded the audience of the commitment that CD governments made in Warsaw to collaborate in other multilateral institutions where issues of democracy arise.  While a Democracy Caucus in the United Nations has been formed and has occasionally issued statements related to the UN Human Rights Council, he said that the Democracy Caucus should be meeting more regularly to discuss this and other matters.  He suggested that the 10th anniversary of the founding of the CD would be an opportunity to revitalize the organization, especially if CD members held a summit-level meeting to reaffirm their commitment to the principles in the Warsaw Declaration.

The Seminar also provided the leaders of civil society networks from around the world to present information on their efforts to support democratic activists. ISC/CD Member Roel von Meijenfeldt informed the participants of the recent establishment of the European Foundation for Democracy through Partnership, a network of European NGOs active on issues of democracy and human rights worldwide. David Lowe of the World Movement for Democracy also detailed the work of this global network of democracy activists, while Michael Kau described the World Forum for Democratization in Asia, providing Asian democrats a forum for mutual support. Such organizations, and their linkages to the Community of Democracies through the ISC/CD, provide the CD with a broad base of nongovernmental support for actions that can be taken to encourage and support the establishment and consolidation of democratic institutions around the world.

ISC/CD's Chair Paul Graham concluded the Seminar by presenting a set of recommendations for the CD that he had distilled from the conversations held throughout the event:

1. We must continue the interaction with global actors which we have begun in our democracy caucus at the United Nations and at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. But in this crisis, the primary global actor has to be the G20. We should be saying three things to this body urgently, and then ensuring that the decisions taken there are integrated into the July Ministerial.
1. The reforms which are considered may well have an impact on the paths to democracy being taken by countries and they should therefore be evaluated to ensure that they do no harm to these paths;
2. Development assistance should be strengthened and especially focused where the financial and economic crisis are undermining emerging democracies;
3. A reformed and renewed multi-lateral system is essential and should be built in ways which enhance the rule of law and democratic global governance.
2. We must ensure commitment from the convening group countries at the highest possible level if we are to encourage the support of other democracies in the Ministerial.
3. We must create a space for regional institutions, some of which are becoming key players in the promotion of democracy.
4. We must set an aspirational and realistically concrete agenda for the next cycle of the Community of Democracies which, with the Portuguese Troika initiative, can now be seen to encompass Lisbon, Vilnius and the intended celebration of a decade of the Community in Warsaw in 2010.