When Ronald Reagan delivered his famous speech to the British Parliament at Westminster in 1982, his call for free societies to promote liberty and democracy around the world was not addressed to Americans alone.  From its earliest days, IRI has sought to build partnerships and alliances with likeminded organizations from across the globe.  Indeed, much of the early inspiration for IRI was the work of the German political party foundations, which played a key role in democratic transitions in Iberia and Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s.

In recent years, this effort to build partnerships has expanded and begun to bear fruit.  IRI’s Regional Program for Europe, based in Bratislava, is a cornerstone of this effort.  While focusing on its core mission of consolidating democratic gains in post-communist Central Europe, the Europe Regional Program works to build transatlantic alliances for democracy promotion.  A series of IRI conferences has focused on encouraging European governments and parties to join the cause.  The regional program also works to encourage new democracies to begin their own democracy promotion programs. Countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia have launched efforts to share their experience in building democratic institutions, joining older democracies including Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.  In 2008, Austria’s Political Academy, in partnership with IRI, hosted a gathering of senior-level European political leaders and democratic activists working in some of the most closed societies of the broader Middle East.

Through its collaboration with IRI, the Eduardo Frei Foundation of the Netherlands has undertaken its first-ever program activity in Turkey and now co-sponsors a series of IRI youth leadership seminars.  They are also considering expanding their programs in North Africa.  Other European foundations, including Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Spain’s Foundation for Social Research and Analysis and Greece’s Karamanlis Institute for Democracy have all partnered with IRI on conferences, trainings and seminars, providing financial and programmatic support.  As a result of this growing collaboration, IRI and several partners are looking for ways to formalize these cooperative relationships.

Through cooperation like this with the International Democrat Union and European People’s Party, IRI has broadened and deepened its pool of volunteer trainers.  IRI programs have included Austrian, German and Norwegian trainers working with activists of the Middle East on campaign and organizing skills.  Norwegians and Dutch have also assisted IRI trainings in Indonesia and Latin America.  French political activists have consulted with Croatian political parties. British, Dutch, Irish, Spanish and Swedish trainers helped IRI provide campaign skills training for up-and-coming leaders in the Balkans. Spokesmen from the Slovak Ministry of Labor partnered with IRI to train Burmese opposition leaders. Swedish, Bulgarian and Slovak political activists traveled to Cuba to work with dissidents to help them promote peaceful democratic reform, and Estonians have trained future Belarusian policy leaders in managing the transition once democratic change begins.  Czechs, Hungarians and Poles have served as delegates on IRI election observation missions to Bangladesh, Georgia and Nigeria.  IRI brought female leaders from France, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden to Istanbul to work with women from throughout the Middle East and North Africa.  All told, more than 200 Europeans have served on IRI missions and training programs.

While these efforts may be concentrated in Europe, the last few years have seen similar efforts replicated around the globe.

IRI assisted leaders of Australia’s Liberal Party as they created mechanisms to promote democracy.  In 2006, official funding was, for the first time, provided to Australia’s major political parties for programs promoting democracy, and the Liberal Party has teamed with IRI on democracy-building activities in Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea.

In Mexico, where truly competitive elections were held for the first time in 2000, the ruling National Action Party (PAN) has significantly increased its international activities to promote democracy.  In 2006, PAN joined with IRI to train political party representatives and civil society groups from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Incorporating this international experience adds immeasurably to IRI’s work around the world and is a vivid rejoinder to the autocrats who brand democracy promotion an American project.