Concert of Democracies
Encyclopedia
A Concert of Democracies or League of Democracies is an alternative international organization
proposed by Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay in a May 2004 Washington Post op-ed. The concept is broader than a military organization, hence “concert” instead of “alliance.” In a subsequent article in The American Interest, they affirm that roughly 60 countries would qualify for membership under these criteria.
G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter have also called for the creation of a “Concert of Democracies” in the final report of the Princeton Project on National Security, Forging a World Under Liberty and Law: U.S. National Security in the 21st Century (September 2006). Most recently the concept has been supported by former United States
President
ial candidate
John McCain
.
According to the Princeton Project's final report released on September 27, 2006, this alternative body's purpose would be to strengthen security cooperation among the world’s liberal democracies and to provide a framework in which they can work together to effectively tackle common challenges - ideally within existing regional and global institutions, but if those institutions fail, then independently, functioning as a focal point for efforts to strengthen liberty under law around the world. It would serve as the institutional embodiment and ratification of the "democratic peace".
On September 16, 2006, Anne Bayefsky
at the Hudson Institute, published a nearly identical proposal to establish an organization called the United Democratic Nations in the Jerusalem Post. Unlike the Princeton Project scholars, Bayefsky and other conservative scholars view the institution as a replacement for the United Nations, which they view as illegitimate and ineffective.
s, and protection of individual rights and the rule of law.
Other progressive thinkers, including Richard Falk and Daniele Archibugi
have argued that the same purposes will be better served by a democratic reform of the United Nations
.
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
proposed by Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay in a May 2004 Washington Post op-ed. The concept is broader than a military organization, hence “concert” instead of “alliance.” In a subsequent article in The American Interest, they affirm that roughly 60 countries would qualify for membership under these criteria.
G. John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter have also called for the creation of a “Concert of Democracies” in the final report of the Princeton Project on National Security, Forging a World Under Liberty and Law: U.S. National Security in the 21st Century (September 2006). Most recently the concept has been supported by former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
ial candidate
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
.
According to the Princeton Project's final report released on September 27, 2006, this alternative body's purpose would be to strengthen security cooperation among the world’s liberal democracies and to provide a framework in which they can work together to effectively tackle common challenges - ideally within existing regional and global institutions, but if those institutions fail, then independently, functioning as a focal point for efforts to strengthen liberty under law around the world. It would serve as the institutional embodiment and ratification of the "democratic peace".
On September 16, 2006, Anne Bayefsky
Anne Bayefsky
Anne Bayefsky is a human rights scholar and activist. She currently directs the Touro College Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a barrister and solicitor, Ontario Bar. Her areas of expertise include international human rights law, equality...
at the Hudson Institute, published a nearly identical proposal to establish an organization called the United Democratic Nations in the Jerusalem Post. Unlike the Princeton Project scholars, Bayefsky and other conservative scholars view the institution as a replacement for the United Nations, which they view as illegitimate and ineffective.
Possible membership
Political scientists have argued that the criteria for inclusion in a Concert of Democracies are by no means clear-cut. The main factors for membership most agreed upon are regular, competitive, free and fair electionElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s, and protection of individual rights and the rule of law.
Other progressive thinkers, including Richard Falk and Daniele Archibugi
Daniele Archibugi
Daniele Archibugi is an Italian economic and political theorist. He works on the economics and policy of innovation and technological change, on the political theory of international relations and on political and technological globalisation....
have argued that the same purposes will be better served by a democratic reform of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
See also
- Princeton ProjectPrinceton ProjectThe Princeton Project on National Security is a multi-year, bipartisan initiative to develop a sustainable and effective national security strategy for the United States of America. Under the stewardship of honorary co-chairs George P...
- Cosmopolitan democracyCosmopolitan democracyCosmopolitan democracy is a political theory which explores the application of norms and values of democracy at different levels, from global to local. It is about what global governance of the people, by the people, to the people can mean...
- John IkenberryJohn IkenberryJohn Ikenberry is a theorist of international relations and United States foreign policy, and a professor of Politics and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.- Career :...
- David HeldDavid HeldDavid Held is a British political theorist active in the field of international relations. He will be chair of politics and international relations at Durham University from January 2012 and is currently Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Centre for the Study of...
- United Nations Parliamentary AssemblyUnited Nations Parliamentary AssemblyA United Nations Parliamentary Assembly is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for participation of member nations' legislators and, eventually, direct election of United Nations parliament members by citizens worldwide...
External links
- http://www.the-american-interest.com/ai2/article.cfm?Id=219&MId=6"Democracies of the World, Unite" - Ivo Daalder & James Lindsay, The American InterestThe American InterestThe American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
magazine] - http://hir.harvard.edu/index.php?page=article&id=1758"A League of Democracies or a Democratic United Nations" - Daniele Archibugi Harvard International ReviewHarvard International ReviewThe Harvard International Review is a quarterly journal of international relations published by the Harvard International Relations Council...
Nov 2008] - Rethinking the League of Democracies, Opinion by Asle Toje, May 2008, European Union Institute for Security StudiesEuropean Union Institute for Security StudiesThe European Union Institute for Security Studies is a Paris-based EU agency of the Common Foreign and Security Policy . Its goals are to find a common security culture for the EU, to help develop and project the CFSP, and to enrich Europe’s strategic debate.The EUISS is an autonomous agency with...