INTRODUCTION

NATO Allies came together to save Western democracy from looming Communist aggression and domination based upon common values. These values have been pivotal in maintaining Alliance cohesion for seven decades. They remain the strongest weapons Allies possess to effectively counter authoritarianism. However, democracy, while resilient, is also fragile. Allies must constantly work to protect it, expand it, and strengthen their ability to resist and counter attempts to undermine it – both from within and without.

Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine makes this task even more urgent and important. NATO finds itself at an inflection point once again. And strengthening the Alliance’s democratic foundations must be a central part of its adaptation.

In June 2022, Allied leaders adopted a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance at their Summit meeting in Madrid. As the NATO Parliamentary Assembly had recommended, the Strategic Concept recognises the threat posed by authoritarianism and places shared democratic values at the heart of NATO’s response to today’s challenges.

Starting at the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, the Assembly has called on Allied governments to take steps to operationalise the important commitments made in the Strategic Concept, including by establishing a Centre for Democratic Resilience at NATO Headquarters.

Already in 2019, former NATO PA President Gerald E. Connolly, then General Rapporteur of the Political Committee, proposed the creation of a Centre within NATO supporting Allied efforts to strengthen democratic resilience - a recommendation endorsed by the Assembly as a whole. Since then, the Assembly has repeatedly and consistently made the establishment of a Centre for Democratic Resilience within NATO Headquarters one of its top priorities, with successive NATO PA presidents continuing to advocate for this proposal (Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam and Michal Szczerba).

The proposal is grounded in the clear commitment to shared democratic values in NATO’s founding Washington Treaty.

The centre would serve as a focal point, resource and a centre of expertise and information on best practices and cross-fertilisation on threats to democracy and democratic benchmarks. It would bring coherence and visibility to the various existing efforts underway within NATO as well as giving them new breadth. The centre would be flexible and voluntary, accessible on request to member countries, partners and candidates for accession.

It is not the role of the centre to judge Allies' compliance with democratic principles. There is no question of infringing on the sovereignty or interfering in the internal affairs of Allies. The centre would not impose – it is a resource made available to nations. It would be a modest, targeted structure. This structure would serve to coordinate with other organisations on issues related to democratic resilience.

This site provides the background, rationale and a blueprint for this proposal and addresses several common misconceptions.