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Alliance of Democracies

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Not to be confused with Alliance for Democracy or Alliance of Democrats.
Alliance of Democracies Foundation
AbbreviationAoD
Formation2017
Registration no.39209349
HeadquartersCopenhagen,
Denmark
Founder
Anders Fogh Rasmussen (founder);
Key people
Jonas Parello-Plesner (executive director)
Websitewww.allianceofdemocracies.org

The Alliance of Democracies Foundation (AoD) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the advancement of democracy and free markets across the globe. It was established in December 2017 by former NATO Secretary General and former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen together with businessman Fritz Schur and lawyer Klaus Søgaard.[1]

According to its founder, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the United States is retreating from the world stage, leaving behind a vacuum that is filled by autocrats like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Bashar al-Assad. Democracy is under pressure from protectionism, populism, nationalism, terrorism, and autocracy. Against this backdrop, the Alliance of Democracies foundation seeks to unite world democracies. According to Rasmussen, the new alliance of democracies would not be a new U.N. but rather an organisation that would supplement it.[1]

The foundation runs three programs: the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, the Expeditionary Economics Program, and the Campaign for Democracy.[2]

AoD and brand perception consultancy Latana produce an annual study, the Democracy Perception Index, on how people worldwide perceive democracy, published ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.[3]

Leadership

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AoD's board members include Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Fritz Schur, and Klaus Søgaard. Jonas Parello-Plesner serves as executive director.[4]

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit

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The Copenhagen Democracy Summit is an international conference which is held annually in Copenhagen during the summer. The summit brings together political and business leaders, including current and former heads of government, from the world's democracies. In parallel, a similar conference takes place every winter in Denver, Colorado, United States.[1] In light of a decline of liberal democracies across the world, the aim of the summit is to be a top international forum for analysis on the security and economic challenges facing the democratic world as well as a forum for analysis on the interplay between technology and democratic norms.[5]

The first annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit took place in Copenhagen on July 22, 2018. Among those who attended were the then-Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Joe Biden, Tony Blair, Stephen Harper, Felipe Calderón, José María Aznar, and Toomas Ilves.[6] A total of 350 participants attended from over 40 countries. One of the publications released at the conference concluded that people's trust in government is lower in democracies than in non-democratic states.[7]

The 2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit included an intervention by then US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo,[8] former US Secretaries of State John Kerry[9] and Madeleine Albright[10] and the President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen.[11] In 2021, Zuzana Čaputová, President of Slovakia spoke arguing that democracy needs three basic lines of defence - independent institutions with responsible public officials, active civil society and free media.[12] The 2022 Democracy Summit was closed by former United States President Barack Obama[13] and addressed by Lithuania Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė,[14] European Parliament President Roberta Metsola,[15] and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[16] In 2023, speakers included the newly-elected President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel,[17] Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas,[18] Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,[19] former United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss,[20] and Belarus political activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The 2024 Copenhagen Democracy Summit took place between 14 and 15 May and included Prime minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, among others.[21]

The Expeditionary Economics Program

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The Expeditionary Economics Program is rooted in Cold War efforts by the United States to strengthen post-war Europe and create a better economic model than the communist one offered by the Soviet Union.[1] The program supports entrepreneurial projects in developing states, emerging democracies, and post-conflict areas for the purpose of strengthening democracy in fragile states by developing a local economic base.

The Campaign for Democracy

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The Campaign for Democracy seeks to connect supporters of democracy across the world and build an intellectual movement for democracy through a network of local associations, online presence, media engagement, and support for dissidents.

On the sidelines of the 2018 Copenhagen Democracy Summit Anders Fogh Rasmussen together with Michael Chertoff launched the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, which has Joe Biden, Nick Clegg, Toomas Ilves, and Felipe Calderón among its members. The commission is tasked with bolstering the defences of Western democracies against outside interference.[22]

Democracy Perception Index

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See also: Democracy indices

Working with the polling firm Dalia research or the brand research firm Latana, the Alliance has since 2018 published reports on how democracy is perceived in 50 countries around the world.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

Funding

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In 2023, AoD stated it was principally "funded by private sponsors, governments and individuals."[29] It credited 56 organisations and companies as current and former supporters. The list included Atlantic Council, George W. Bush Institute, European Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.[30][non-primary source needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Terp Beck-Nilsson, Carsten (1 March 2018). "Anders Fogh Rasmussen kalder til global kamp for demokrati og frihed". Altinget (in Danish). Archived from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  2. ^ "About the foundation: A non-profit organization founded by Anders Fogh". Alliance of Democracies. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Democracy Perception Index 2023" (PDF). Latana. May 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  4. ^ "About Us – Alliance of Democracies". Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  5. ^ "Democracies facing crisis of faith: survey". Reuters. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  6. ^ Qvirin Holst, Emma (23 June 2018). "Joe Biden og Tony Blair på besøg i København: Toppolitikere debatterer demokratiets fremtid". Altinget (in Danish). Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  7. ^ Tomarchio, Jack Thomas (5 July 2018). "Making Democracy Great Again". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  8. ^ Pompeo, Michael (19 June 2020). "Remarks by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Virtual Copenhagen Democracy Summit". U.S. Embassy in Iceland.
  9. ^ "Copenhagen Democracy Summit Conversation with John Kerry". C-SPAN. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  10. ^ "Copenhagen Democracy Summit Conversation with Madeleine Albright". C-SPAN. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  11. ^ "President Tsai addresses Copenhagen Democracy Summit via video". Office of President: Republic of China. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  12. ^ "Caputova: Democracy Needs Independent Institutions, Civil Society and Media". News Agency of the Slovak Republic. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  13. ^ "Strengthening Democracy in the Digital Age". Obama Foundation. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  14. ^ "Prime Minister at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit: this is the '1938 moment' of our generation". Government of Lithuania. 2022-06-10.
  15. ^ "Statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President at Copenhagen Democracy Summit". European Parliament Multimedia Centre. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  16. ^ "Zelensky addresses participants of Copenhagen Democracy Summit". Ukrinform. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  17. ^ Narguet, Guillaume (2023-05-15). "Petr Pavel à Copenhague pour le Sommet de la démocratie". Radio Prague International (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  18. ^ "Remarks by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2023". valitsus.ee. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  19. ^ "NATO Secretary General at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit". NATO. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  20. ^ McDonald, Andrew (2023-05-15). "Liz Truss calls for deeds, not words, from West on China ahead of Taiwan visit". Politico. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  21. ^ "Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2024".
  22. ^ "Countries team up to save the liberal order from Donald Trump". The Economist. 2 August 2018. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  23. ^ Schmitz, Rob (May 5, 2021). "Poll: Much Of The World Sees The U.S. As A Threat To Democracy". NPR.
  24. ^ Wintour, Patrick (2022-05-30). "Negative views of Russia mainly limited to western liberal democracies, poll shows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  25. ^ Bershidsky, Leonid (2019-06-26). "Opinion: The U.S. Threat to International Democracy: It's not just Donald Trump. It's the finance and technology industries, according to a recent survey". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  26. ^ "Europeans want governments to focus more on curbing migration than climate change, a study says". AP News. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  27. ^ Timsit, Annabelle (2020-06-15). "People living in democracies don't think their countries are very democratic". Quartz. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  28. ^ Kristian, Bonnie (2021-05-06). "Reckless Foreign Policy Gives the U.S. a Bad Reputation". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  29. ^ "About Us". Alliance of Democracies. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Support our Work". Alliance of Democracies. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
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