Investing in Our Common Democratic Future
About the Program
As a core initiative of the most powerful voice in Washington on transatlantic affairs, the Center for European Policy Analysis Democratic Resilience program aims to support policymakers – in government, civil society, business, and the media, in North America and in Europe – in achieving three vital aims:
- Countering authoritarian threats to democracy.
- Responding to democratic backsliding.
- Bolstering established democracies.
To help transatlantic policymakers succeed in the goals of countering authoritarian threats, responding to democratic backsliding and bolstering established democracies, the Democratic Resilience program brings to bear cutting-edge research and actionable, evidence-based analysis on the causes and effects of democratic breakdown and resilience.
- Countering authoritarian threats to democracy. Resurgent autocratic regimes in Russia, China, and elsewhere seek to bolster their political dominance at home and project their power abroad by subverting democratic institutions and undermining faith in democratic practice. To mitigate these threats, policymakers will need effective strategies for strengthening institutional resilience, supporting independent civic and journalistic voices, responding to rising digital authoritarianism, and supporting democratic openings in authoritarian states themselves.
- Responding to democratic backsliding. Societies across Europe and elsewhere are struggling to defend the hard-won achievements of post-communist democratization and liberalization against expanding authoritarian influence and anti-democratic interests at home. Reversing this dynamic will require pro-democracy forces in governments, civil societies, and media throughout the transatlantic space to find common cause in restoring commitment to representative, accountable, and transparent government.
- Bolstering established democracies. The US and many of its allies are facing growing challenges to the functioning of core institutions of democratic governance. These challenges can be neither assumed away, nor seen off in isolation. To ensure the resilience of the democratic model globally, transatlantic leaders and societies will need to take a hard look at their own vulnerabilities and to learn lessons from those on the front lines of the struggle for democracy.
Latest Analysis
Read the latest analysis from the Democratic Resilience team
Europe Should Brace for a Long Winter
The EU might have expected a period of calm at the end of Russia’s gas transit agreement. Instead, red warning lights are beginning to flash.
Ukraine Axes Russian Energy: Will the EU Follow?
Europe should never have forced Ukraine to decide about the continent’s energy dependence on Russia. But it still has time to act.
Orbán’s Key Minister Hit by US Magnitsky Sanctions
The decision takes aim at the heart of the Orbán government. It is more than a gesture.
Featured Content
Betraying Ukraine for ‘Blood Gas’
On January 1, Ukraine can sever one of its last remaining ties with Russia if it ignores a last-minute campaign by Moscow’s friends in the West.
Read Now
Featured Reports
Lost in Translation: Western Misconceptions about Putin’s Russia
One Year In: The US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery
The Narrow Bottleneck of Ukraine-Russia Reconciliation
Resilience, Reconstruction, Recovery: The Path Ahead for Ukraine
Leadership in Action: Six Priorities for the Transatlantic Alliance in 2024
Containing Russia, Securing Europe
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Related Issues
Learn more about the Democratic Resilience's Program's key issues.
Authoritarian Threats
Authoritarianism is a persistent threat to democracy and the transatlantic alliance.
Democracy
Democratic values and principles are the foundation of the transatlantic alliance.