Economic, political, and rights-based partnerships such as the European Union and the Council of Europe have been instrumental in ensuring peace for their democratic member states. But when conflict rages in so many parts of the world, why hasn’t the multilateral model succeeded more broadly? Should international organizations be redesigned? Is there a model for a multilateral association that is both deep in its mutual obligations and broad in its inclusiveness and scope of action? Might the rise of cross-border communities of other kinds, often citizen-led and facilitated by technology, be another route to preventing conflict? The fact remains that democratic security is today the most decisive factor of peace; how to define it, build it, and defend it?

These were the questions posed by the 11th World Forum for Democracy, which took place in Strasbourg,France, from November 6-8, 2023 on the topic of “Democracy= Peace?” Throughout both days at the Council of Europe, participants debated solutions to key challenges for democracies worldwide and encouraged innovations at the grassroots level in order to strengthen the foundations of inclusive democratic societies.

IPI Vice President and COO Adam Lupel participated as a speaker at the forum’s third session on “International Community for a Democratic Security.” Speaking at the European Parliament Hemicycle, his remarks examined the need for global governance reform. International institutions have proven insufficient to address the great challenges of our times at an historical inflection point of intensifying global conflict and heightened geopolitical, environmental, and technological change. Commenting on the moral consistency required to rebuild the capacity of the international system for collective security, Dr. Lupel said, “If we want to build trust and solidarity, universality is the key; there is no trust or solidarity if international rules are applied selectively based upon geopolitical interests rather than universally according to the law.”

Read more about the World Forum for Democracy and watch the full-length video of the session here>>