Democracy Needs Cooperation. Multilateralism Needs Democracy.
NEW YORK, 21 September 2026 — Democracy and multilateralism are being weakened by the same forces: concentrated power, declining accountability and a growing distance between people and the institutions that govern them.
“Democracy and Multilateral Cooperation: Revitalizing International Support for Democratic Renewal” is the final report of the Global Commission on Democracy and Multilateralism, convened by Club de Madrid in partnership with International IDEA, the European Democracy Hub and the Open Government Partnership. The Commission brought together 19 former heads of state and government, international leaders, experts and representatives of civil society and philanthropy.
The Commission examined how cooperation at global, regional and plurilateral levels can better protect, strengthen and renew democracy within States, and how stronger democracies can sustain and defend a multilateral system grounded in rules, accountability, participation and respect for human dignity.
“Democracy and multilateralism do not stand apart; each depends upon the other,” says Prime Minister George Papandreou, Chair of the Global Commission on Democracy and Multilateralism. “Democracy needs a multilateral system that protects and sustains it, while multilateralism needs healthy, resilient democracies to uphold rules, defend rights and sustain public trust. The two must evolve together, or neither will endure.”
The report presents the crises of democracy and multilateralism as interconnected and identifies the concentration of power as a common driver of both. It also addresses directly the concern that democracy should remain outside the scope of international cooperation. Supporting the rights, freedoms, participation and accountability on which democracy rests is not the imposition of a particular political model. It means upholding commitments that States themselves have made through the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.
The report also calls for the democratization of multilateral decision-making, of power itself and to invest strategically in plurilateral cooperation. Its recommendations include stronger democratic safeguards in digital and AI governance, better-resourced electoral assistance and observation, protection against information manipulation and foreign interference, more effective action against grand corruption and stolen assets, and stronger protection for civic space and equal political participation.
The Commission underline the importance of sustaining the international ecosystem for democracy. The future of multilateral cooperation will depend on whether democratic States are prepared to match their declarations with action. Their credibility will be measured not by what they say about democracy, but by what they are willing to defend, resource and reform.
About the Global Commission on Democracy and Multilateralism
The Global Commission on Democracy and Multilateralism brought together 19 high-level Commissioners from across regions and political systems. It was chaired by George Papandreou, with Kevin Casas-Zamora and Aminata Touré as Vice-Chairs. The Commission’s work was organized through three Working Groups led by its content partners: International IDEA examined support for democracy within the United Nations system; the European Democracy Hub focused on regional mechanisms; and the Open Government Partnership explored the potential of plurilateral cooperation.
The initiative was supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Media contact:
Valentín Betrán
Communications Officer, Club de Madrid
vbetran@clubmadrid.org
