A Call to Defend Democracy Signed By Over 500 Supporters
June 25, 2020
News
The COVID-19 crisis threatens democracy, leading world figures warn
More than 500 political, civil leaders, Nobel Laureates and pro-democracy institutions have signed an open letter to defend democracy, warning that the freedoms we cherish are under threat from governments that are using the crisis to tighten their grip on power.
The coronavirus pandemic poses serious threats to democracy. Many governments around the world have assembled emergency powers that restrict human rights and enhance state surveillance, often disregarding legal constraints, checks and balances, and time frames for restoring constitutional order.
That is the key message in “A Call to Defend Democracy”, an Open Letter initiated by the Stockholm-based International IDEA and the Washington-DC-based National Endowment for Democracy and supported by 73 pro-democracy institutions as well as political and civic leaders around the world, including 13 Nobel Laureates and 62 former heads of state and government.
The letter is aimed at raising awareness and mobilizing citizens and policymakers to protect democracy–recognizing that this is the most effective system for handling global crises while protecting the rights of all citizens, particularly minorities and vulnerable groups.
“The current pandemic represents a formidable global challenge to democracy. Authoritarian leaders around the world see the COVID-19 crisis as a new political battleground in their fight to stigmatize democracy as feeble and reverse its dramatic gains of the past few decades,” the letter states.
“Democracy is under threat, and people who care about it must summon the will, the discipline, and the solidarity to defend it. At stake are the freedom, health, and dignity of people everywhere”.
While it is unsurprising that authoritarian regimes are using the crisis to tighten their grip on power, some democracies have also introduced emergency powers without the necessary safeguards to ensure measures can be rolled back, the letter says.
“This unprecedented demonstration of global solidarity is a sign that democracy, while threatened, is also resilient,” says Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy and one of the signatories.
The pandemic and the global movement for racial equality have shown that democracy is more important than ever.
Democracy allows for civil society to mobilise, for inequalities to be confronted, for policy issues to be openly debated, for trustworthy information to freely flow, and governments to be accountable to citizens—all essential tools for successfully dealing with the current public health emergency and its consequences.
“Now is the time when all of us must stand up for democracy. We need to make it clear to everyone what is at stake and that we will not allow leaders with authoritarian tendencies to use this or other crises to increase their power and decrease our rights. We need to defend democracy—whether in the ballot box, in the media or on the streets. This is what the letter is about,” says Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General of International IDEA.
The full letter and list of signatories appear below:
A Call to Defend Democracy
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens more than the lives and the livelihoods of people throughout the world. It is also a political crisis that threatens the future of liberal democracy.
Authoritarian regimes, not surprisingly, are using the crisis to silence critics and tighten their political grip. But even some democratically elected governments are fighting the pandemic by amassing emergency powers that restrict human rights and enhance state surveillance without regard to legal constraints, parliamentary oversight, or timeframes for the restoration of constitutional order. Parliaments are being sidelined, journalists are being arrested and harassed, minorities are being scapegoated, and the most vulnerable sectors of the population face alarming new dangers as the economic lockdowns ravage the very fabric of societies everywhere.
Repression will not help to control the pandemic. Silencing free speech, jailing peaceful dissenters, suppressing legislative oversight, and indefinitely canceling elections all do nothing to protect public health. On the contrary, these assaults on freedom, transparency, and democracy will make it more difficult for societies to respond quickly and effectively to the crisis through both government and civic action.
It is not a coincidence that the current pandemic began in a country where the free flow of information is stifled and where the government punished those warning about the dangers of the virus—warnings that were seen as spreading rumors harmful to the prestige of the state. When voices of responsible citizens are suppressed, the results can be deadly, not for just one country but for the entire world.
Democracy is not just a cherished ideal. It is the system of government best suited to addressing a crisis of the magnitude and complexity of COVID-19. In contrast to the self-serving claims of authoritarian propaganda, credible and free flows of information, fact-based debate about policy options, the voluntary self-organization of civil society, and open engagement between government and society are all vital assets in combating the pandemic. And they are all key elements of liberal democracy.
It is only through democracy that societies can build the social trust that enables them to persevere in a crisis, maintain national resilience in the face of hardship, heal deep societal divisions through inclusive participation and dialogue, and retain confidence that sacrifice will be shared and the rights of all citizens respected.
It is only through democracy that independent civil society, including women and young people, can be empowered to partner with public institutions, to assist in the delivery of services, to help citizens stay informed and engaged, and to bolster social morale and a sense of common purpose.
It is only though democracy that free media can play their role of informing people so that they can make sound personal and family decisions, scrutinize government and public institutions, and counter disinformation that seeks to tear societies apart.
It is only through democracy that society can strike a sustainable balance between competing needs and priorities – between combatting the spread of the virus and protecting economic security; and between implementing an effective response to the crisis and protecting people’s civil and political rights in accordance with constitutional norms and guarantees.
It is only in democracies that the rule of law can protect individual liberties from state intrusion and constraint well beyond what is necessary to contain a pandemic.
It is only in democracies that systems of public accountability can monitor and circumscribe emergency government powers, and terminate them when they are no longer needed.
It is only in democracies that government data on the scope and health-impact of the pandemic can be believed.
Democracy does not guarantee competent leadership and effective governance. While democracies predominate among the countries that have acted most effectively to contain the virus, other democracies have functioned poorly in responding to the pandemic and have paid a very high price in human life and economic security. Democracies that perform poorly further weaken society and create openings for authoritarians.
But the greatest strength of democracy is its capacity for self-correction. The COVID-19 crisis is an alarming wake-up call, an urgent warning that the freedoms we cherish are at risk and that we must not take them for granted. Through democracy, citizens and their elected leaders can learn and grow. Never has it been more important for them to do that.
The current pandemic represents a formidable global challenge to democracy. Authoritarians around the world see the COVID-19 crisis as a new political battleground in their fight to stigmatize democracy as feeble and reverse its dramatic gains of the past few decades. Democracy is under threat, and people who care about it must summon the will, the discipline, and the solidarity to defend it. At stake are the freedom, health, and dignity of people everywhere.
Below is the list of signatories at the time of the letter’s release on June 25, 2020. However organizations continue to sign on, so the most up to date list of signatories can be found by clicking here. To sign your name in support of the statement and have your name added to the list of signatories, please send an email to signupfordemocracy@idea.int .
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List of Signatories
Signatory Organizations:
| African Movement for Democracy | Ateki Caxton, Advisory Council Member |
| African Network of Constitutional Lawyers (ANCL) | Enyinna Nwauche, Chair |
| Alinaza Universitaria Nicaraguense (AUN) | Max Jerez, Political Coordinator |
| Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center | Amine Ghali, Director |
| Alliance of Democracies Foundation | Jonas Parello-Plesner, Executive Director |
| Asia Democracy Network | Ichal Supriadi, Secretary-General |
| Asian Network For Free Elections (ANFREL) | Chandanie Watawala, Executive Director |
| Association Béninoise de Droit Constitutionnel (ABDC) | Federic Joel Aivo, Chair |
| Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) | Igor Botan, Executive Director |
| Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) | Andrew Wilson, Executive Director |
| Christian Democratic International Center | Edvard Agrell, Secretary-General |
| Coalition for Dialogue in Africa (CODA) | Souad Aden-Osman, Executive Director |
| Colectivo Ciudadano Ecuador | Wilson Moreno, President |
| Council for Global Equality | Mark Bromley, Executive Director |
| Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) | Godwin Murunga, Executive Secretary |
| Democracy International | Eric Bjornlund, President |
| Democracy Reporting International (DRI) | Michael Meyer-Resende, Executive Director |
| European Endowment for Democracy | Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director |
| European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP) | Mana Livardjani, Executive Director |
| European Partnership for Democracy | Ken Godfrey, Executive Director |
| Forum 2000 | Jakub Klepal, Executive Director |
| Freedom House | Michael Abramowitz, President |
| Fundación Nuevas Generaciones | Julián Martín Obiglio, President |
| Fundación Paraguaya de Cooperación y Desarrollo | Martin Burt, Executive Director |
| Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (FUSADES) | Miguel Angel Simán, President |
| Human Rights Campaign | Jean Freedberg, Deputy Director |
| Human Rights House Foundation | Maria Dahle, Director |
| Institute for Democratic Governance | Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director |
| Instituto Venezolano de Estudios Sociales y Políticos (INVESP) | Francine Jácome, Executive Director |
| International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) | Douglas Rutzen, President and CEO |
| International IDEA | Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General |
| International Republican Institute | Daniel Twining, President |
| JuventudLAC | Jatzel Roman, Executive Director |
| Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) | William Goiz, Regional Coordinator |
| National Democratic Institute | Derek Mitchel, President |
| National Endowment for Democracy | Carl Gershman, President |
| Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) | Thijs Berman, Executive Director |
| Olof Palme International Center | Anna Sundström, Secretary General |
| Parliamentary Center of Canada | Thomas Cormier, CEO |
| PAX for Peace International | Anna Timmerman, General Director |
| PEN America | Suzanne Nossel, CEO |
| Political Parties of Finland for Democracy – Demo Finland | Anu Juvonen, Executive Director |
| Prague Civil Society Centre | Rotislav Valvoda, Executive Director |
| Program on Democratic Resilience and Development, IDC Herzliya | Amichai Magen, Director |
| Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights | Irwin Colter, Chair |
| Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe por la Democracia (REDLAD) | Gina Romero, Executive Director |
| Solidarity Center | Shawna Bader-Blau, Executive Director |
| Swedish International Liberal Center (SILC) | Martin Ängeby, Secretary-General |
| Taiwan Foundation for Democracy | Ketty W. Chen, Acting President |
| The Carter Center | Paige Alexander, CEO |
| The Center Party’s International Foundation (CIS) | Catherine Isaksson, Secretary-General |
| The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) | Denis Kadima, Executive Director |
| The Foreign Policy Centre | Dame Audrey Glover, Chairman of the Board of Trustees |
| The George W. Bush Institute | Lindsay Lloyd, Bradford M. Freeman Director of the Human Freedom Initiative |
| The Inter American Institute of Human Rights (IIDH) | Joseph Thompson, Executive Director |
| The International Democrat Union (IDU) | Ray Novak, Vice Chair |
| The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) | Anthony Banbury, President and CEO |
| The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Organization | Julia Ehrt, Program Director |
| The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation | Eva Gustavsson, Managing Director |
| The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) | Norbert Lammert, Chairman |
| The McCain Institute for International Leadership | Mark Green, Executive Director |
| The Nadav Foundation | Leonid Nevzlin, Founder |
| The Oslo Center | Finn Jarle Rode, Executive Director |
| The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida | Carin Jämtin, Director-General |
| Transparency International | Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair |
| Unión de Partidos Latinoamericanos (UPLA) | Óscar Ortiz, President |
| V-Dem Institute | Staffan I. Lindberg, Director |
| West Africa Centre for Democracy and Development | Kole A. Shettima, Chairman |
| West Africa Civil Society Institute | Ayodeji Fajemirokun, Chair |
| Westminster Foundation for Democracy | Anthony Smith, Chief Executive |
| World Movement for Democracy | Ryota Jonen, Director |
| World Uyghur Congress | Dolkun Isa, President |
| World Youth Movement for Democracy | Nevena Todorovid, Coordinator |
Signatory Individuals:
| Davood Moradian | General Director, Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies |
| Rexhep Meidani | Former President of Albania |
| Juela Hamati | President, European Democracy Youth Network |
| Fatiha Serour | United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Somalia; Co-founder, Justice Impact Lab; Member, the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability |
| Nassera Dutour | President, Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED) |
| Rafael Marques de Morais | Founder, Maka Angola |
| Mauricio Macri | Former President of Argentina |
| Beatriz Sarlo | Journalist |
| Flavia Freidenberg | Professor, the Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) |
| Gerardo Bongiovanni | President, Fundacion Libertad |
| Laura Alonso | Former Member of Chamber of Deputies; Former Executive Director, Poder Ciudadano; Former Head of Argentine Anti-Corruption Office |
| Liliana De Riz | Professor, Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo |
| Patricia Bullrich | Former Minister of Security of Argentina |
| Santiago Cantón | Secretary of Human Rights for the Province of Buenos Aires; Former Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) |
| Susana Malcorra | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina; Former Chef de Cabinet to the Executive Office at the United Nations |
| Gulnara Shahinian | Founder and Chair, Democracy Today |
| Haykuhi Harutyunyan | Chairperson, Corruption Prevention Commission |
| Kevin Rudd | Former Prime Minister of Australia; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Cheryl Saunders | Laureate Emeritus Professor, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne; Former Vice Chair of International IDEA Board of Advisors |
| Gareth Evans | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia and Leader of the Government in the Senate; President Emeritus, the International Crisis Group; Former Dean of Australian National University |
| Michael Danby | Former Member of Parliament; Chair, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee |
| Tom Gerald Daly | Director, Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC) |
| Alfred Gusenbauer | Former Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria |
| Anar Mammadli | Chairman, the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center; Former Political Prisoner; Recipient of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Center of the Council of Europe |
| Khadija Ismayilova | Former Political Prisoner and Investigative Journalist |
| Leila Alieva | President, Center for National and International Studies |
| Leyla Yunus | Director, the Institute for Peace and Democracy |
| Muhammad Yunus | Nobel Peace Laureate; Founder, Grameen Bank |
| Shahidul Alam | Photojournalist and social activist |
| Ales Bialiatski | Founder, The Human Rights Center “Viasna” |
| Lavon Volski | Musician and Activist |
| Svetlana Alexievich | Nobel Laureate in Literature |
| Guy Verhofstadt | Member of the European Parliament and European Parliament Brexit Coordinator; Former Prime Minister of Belgium |
| Karl-Heinz Lambertz | Speaker of the Parliament of the German-Speaking Community; Former President of the European Committee of the Regions; Former Minister-President of the German-Speaking Community of Belgium |
| Kris Peeters | Member of the European Parliament; Former Minister-President of Flanders and Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium |
| Cindy Franssen | Member of the European Parliament |
| Koert Debeuf | Writer and Editor in Chief, EUobserver |
| Sabine de Bethune | Member of the Senate of Belgium; Former Speaker of the Senate |
| Theodore Hole | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin; Former President of the Constitutional Court |
| Carlos Mesa | Former President of Bolivia |
| Jorge Quiroga | Former President of Bolivia |
| Zlatko Lagumdzija | Former Prime Minister of Bosnia & Herzegovina |
| Darko Brkan | President, CA Why Not |
| Vildana Selimbegovic | Editor-in-Chief, Oslobodjenje |
| Dumiso Gatsha | Founder, Success Capital Organisation |
| Fernando Henrique Cardoso | Former President of Brazil |
| Bolivar Lamounier | Director, Augurium Consultores and Advisor, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid |
| Celso Lafer | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil; Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Brazil to the World Trade Organization and the United Nations |
| Daniel Mitov | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria |
| Ivan Krastev | Chairman, the Centre for Liberal Strategies; Founder, the European Council on Foreign Relations |
| Wai Wai Nu | Executive Director, Women’s Peace Network; Rohingya Human Rights Activist |
| Akere Muna | Chair, International Anti-Corruption Conference Council |
| Ateki Seta Caxton | Chair, African Movement for Democracy |
| Charles Joseph Clark | Former Prime Minister of Canada; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Stephen Harper | Former Prime Minister of Canada |
| Anita Vandenbeld | Member of Parliament |
| Bob Rae | Former Member of Parliament; Senior Fellow, Forum of Federations and Professor, University of Toronto |
| Chelsea Gabel | Chair, Indigenous Well-Being, Community Engagement and Innovation Research Canada |
| Hugh Segal | Former Member of the Senate of Canada; Senior Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs; Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto |
| Jean-Pierre Kingsley | Former Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada |
| Lloyd Axworthy | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Chair, World Refugee Council |
| Louise Fréchette | Former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Nicole Goodman | Director, the Centre for e-Democracy; Associate Professor, Brock University |
| Ronald Deibert | Director, Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto |
| Thomas Mulcair | Former Member of Parliament; Senior Fellow, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights |
| Francisco Rojas-Aravena | Rector, the University for Peace (UPEACE) |
| Gloria de la Fuente | President, Fundacion Chile 21 |
| Jose Miguel Insulza | Member of the Senate of the Republic of Chile; Former Secretary-General, the Organization of American States |
| José Miguel Vivanco | Human Rights Lawyer |
| Leonidas Montes | Director, Centro de Estudios Públicos |
| Rafael Rincón | Director, Fundación Para el Progreso |
| Sascha Hannig Nunez | Secretary-General, Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios de Asia y África; Researcher, Fundacion para El Progresso |
| Sergio Bitar | President, the Chilean Council for Strategy and Foresight |
| Han Dongfang | Executive Director, China Labor Bulletin |
| Liu Xia | Artist and Widow of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo |
| Wang Dan | Founder and Executive Director, Dialogue China |
| Xiao Qiang | Director, the Counter-Power Lab; Former Executive Director of Human Rights in China; Former Vice-chairman of the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy |
| Yang Jianli | Founder and President, Citizen Power Initiatives for China |
| Juan Manuel Santos | Nobel Peace Laureate and Former President of Colombia |
| Andres Pastrana | Former President of Colombia |
| Cesar Gaviria | Former President of Colombia |
| Catalina Botero | Dean, the Law School of the University of Los Andes, Bogotá; Former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) |
| Humberto de la Calle | Former Vice President of Colombia |
| Laura Gil | Journalist and Director, Dialogos and Estrategias |
| Oscar Arias Sanchez | Nobel Peace Laureate and Former President of Costa Rica |
| Laura Chinchilla | Former President of Costa Rica |
| Luis Guillermo Solis | Former President of Costa Rica |
| Miguel Angel Rodriguez | Former President of Costa Rica |
| Eduardo Ulibarri | Journalist |
| Josette Altmann | Secretary-General, FLACSO |
| Ivo Josipovic | Former President of Croatia |
| Vesna Pusić | Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia |
| Carlos Alberto Montaner | Writer and Journalist |
| Joel Brito | Executive Director, the International Group for Corporate Social Responsibility in Cuba |
| Rosa Maria Paya | President, the Latin American Youth Network for Democracy |
| Jan Fischer | Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic |
| Alexander Vondra | Member of the European Parliament; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic |
| Ivan M. Havel | Researcher and Former Director of the Center for Theoretical Studies |
| Ivan Pilip | Former Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic; Former Vice President, the European Investment Bank |
| Martin Palous | Director, Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy, Florida International University |
| Michael Zantovsky | Executive Director, Vaclav Havel Library |
| Simon Panek | Director, People in Need |
| Zdeněk Hřib | Mayor of Prague |
| Antoni Abat Ninet | Professor of Constitutional Law, the University of Copenhagen |
| Leonel Fernández | Former President of the Dominican Republic; President, the World Federation of United Nations Associations |
| Rosario Espinal | Professor, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology, Temple University |
| Osvaldo Hurtado | Former President of Ecuador |
| Rosalía Arteaga Serrano | Former President of Ecuador |
| Simón Pachano | Professor-researcher, FLACSO Ecuador |
| Amr Hamzawy | Former Member of the People’s Assembly of Egypt; Senior research scholar, the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University |
| Aya Hijazi | Founder, Belady foundation for Street Children |
| Bahey Eddin Hassan | Director, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; Human rights advocate |
| Ezzedine Choukri Fishere | Writer and Academic |
| Hisham Kassem | Political Commentator and Former Chairman, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights |
| Nagwan Soliman | Affiliate Scholar, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security |
| Nancy Okail | Former Director, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy |
| Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar | Former Vice President of El Salvador |
| Joaquín Villalobos | Scholar |
| Toomas Henrik Ilves | Former President of Estonia |
| Marina Kaljurand | Member of the European Parliament; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia |
| Bilen Asrat Ejigu | Executive Director, Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Forum |
| Heidi Hautala | Vice President of the European Parliament; Former Minister of International Development of Finland |
| Antoine Bernard | Senior Advisor, Reporters sans frontières (RSF); Faculty, PSIA/SciencesPo |
| Bernard Henri Lévy | Member, Jcall Advocacy Group |
| Guy Sorman | President, France-Amerique |
| Jacques Rupnik | Professor, Center for International Studies at SciencesPo in Paris |
| Jean-Claude Casanova | Former President, Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques |
| Jean-Marie Guéhenno | Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations |
| Giorgi Margvelashvili | Former President of Georgia |
| Davit Usupashvili | Former Speaker of Parliament of Georgia |
| Eka Gigauri | Executive Director, Transparency International Georgia |
| Ghia Nodia | Chairman, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development |
| Giorgi Muchaidze | Executive Director, Atlantic Council, Georgia |
| Ketevan Chachava | Executive Director, Center for Development and Democracy |
| Nino Evgenidze | Executive Director, Economic Policy Research Center |
| Nino Zambakhidze | Chairwoman, Georgian Farmers Association |
| Tinatin Khidasheli | Chairperson, Civic IDEA, former Minister of Defense |
| Ucha Nanuashvili | Director, Democracy Research Institute (DRI) |
| Andreas Bummel | Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders |
| Elmar Brok | Former Member of the European Parliament; Former Chairman, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee |
| Markus Meckel | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of the Bundestag |
| Ralf Fücks | Former Deputy Mayor and Senator for Urban Development and Environmental Protection; Founder, Zentrum Liberale Moderne |
| Stefan Meister | Director, South Caucasus Office, Heinrich Boell Foundation |
| Tanja A. Börzel | Professor of Political Science, Freie University, Berlin |
| E. Gyimah Boadi | Executive Director, AfroBarometer |
| Esther Tawiah | Founder and Executive Director, Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) |
| Claudia Escobar Mejia | Former Judge, Legal Specialist on Anti-corruption Policies |
| Eduardo Stein | Former Vice President of Guatemala and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Rigoberta Menchú | Nobel Peace Laureate |
| Julieta Castellanos | Former Rector of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras |
| Arnold Chung Chin Kiu | Founding Member, Demosisto |
| Joshua Wong | Founder, Demosisto |
| Lee Cheuk Yan | Former Member of the Legislative Council; Secretary-General, Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions |
| Martin Lee | Founder, Democratic Party |
| Bálint Magyar | Former Minister of Education of Hungary |
| Kata Tüttő | Deputy Mayor of Budapest |
| Katka Cseh | Member of the European Parliament; Co-founder, Momentum Movement |
| Kész Zoltán | Former Member of Parliament; Honorary President, Free Market Foundation of Hungary |
| Klara Dobrev | Vice President of the European Parliament |
| Miklos Haraszti | Former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media; Resident Fellow, Center for Media, Central European University |
| Peter Kreko | Director, Political Capital Institute, Europe’s Futures Fellow, IWM/ERSTE Stiftung |
| Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir | Director, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland |
| Mohammad Hamid Ansari | Former Vice President of India; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations |
| Neelam Deo | Director, Gateway House Mumbai |
| S.Y. Quraishi | Former Chief Election Commissioner of India |
| Sanjay Pradhan | CEO, Open Government Partnership (OGP) |
| Surendra Munshi | Sociologist |
| Vipul Mudgal | Director, Common Cause |
| Bambang Harymurti | Former CEO and Editor in Chief, Tempo Magazine |
| Marzuki Darusman | Former Attorney General of Indonesia and Member of the House of Representatives; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Titi Anggraini | Executive Director, Perludem |
| Azar Nafisi | Former Fellow, the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); New York Times Best-Seller Author |
| Ladan Boroumand | Co-founder, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran |
| Nazanin Boniadi | Artist and Board Member, the Center for Human Rights in Iran |
| Ramin Jahanbegloo | Director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace, Jindal Global University |
| Shirin Ebadi | Nobel Peace Laureate; Founder, Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran |
| Abdalaziz Younis Aljarba | Chairman, Al-Tahreer Association for Development |
| Fatima al-Bahadli | Executive Director, the Iraqi al-Firdaws Society |
| Sarkawt Shamsulddin | Member of Parliament |
| John Bruton | Former Prime Minister of Ireland; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former EU Ambassador to the United States |
| Christine Bell | Founder and Director, Global Justice Academy; Professor of Constitutional Law and Assistant Principal, University of Edinburgh |
| Dan Meridor | Former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Finance |
| Elyakim Rubinstein | Former Attorney General of Israel and Deputy President of the Supreme Court |
| Natan Sharansky | Former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Housing and Construction |
| Shlomo Avineri | Professor, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities |
| Yaniv Roznai | Professor of Law at theRadzyner School of Law, IDC Herzliya |
| Enrico Letta | Former Prime Minister of Italy; Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris |
| Gianni Buquicchio | President, Venice Commission for Democracy |
| Leonardo Morlino | President, the International Center on Democracy and Democratisation (ICEDD) and Emeritus Professor of Political Science, LUISS University in Rome |
| Matteo Mecacci | Former Member of Parliament; President, International Campaign for Tibet |
| PJ Patterson | Former Prime Minister of Jamaica; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former Chair of the United Nations Security Council |
| Maiko Ichihara | Associate Professor of International Relations, Hitotsubashi University |
| Yoichi Funabashi | Chairman, Asia Pacific Initiative; Award Winning Journalist and Author |
| Yukio Takasu | Chairman, Japan Center for International Exchange; Former Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations |
| Ibrahim Saif | Former Minister of Energy and Minister of Planning of Jordan |
| Marwan Muasher | Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan |
| Oraib Al Rantawi | General Director, Al Quds Center for Political Studies |
| Yevgeniy Zhovtis | Directorof the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law |
| Gilbert Sebihogo | Executive Director, Network of African National Human Rights Institutions |
| Atifete Jahjaga | Former President of Kosovo |
| Aagon Maliqi | Program Director, Sbunker |
| Roza Otumbayeva | Former President of Kyrgyzstan |
| Cholpon Idinovna Djakupova | Director, Legal Clinic “Adilet” |
| Zamira Sysykova | Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Res Publica; Recipient of the Courage in Journalism Award of the International Women’s Media Foundation |
| Vaira Vike-Freiberga | Former President of Latvia; Founding Member, Club de Madrid |
| Valdis Birkavs | Former Prime Minister of Latvia |
| Eddie D. Jarwolo | Executive Director, Naymote Partners for Democratic Development |
| Leymah R. Gbowee | Nobel Peace Laureate; President, The Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa |
| Andrius Kubilius | Member of the European Parliament and Former Prime Minister of Lithuania |
| Vytautas Landsbergis | Former President of Lithuania |
| Emanuelis Zingeris | Chairman, Subcommittee on Transatlantic Relations and Democracy Development, Parliament of Lithuania |
| Mantas Adomenas | Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania |
| Sarunas Liekis | Chair, The Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis |
| Zygimantas Pavilionis | Deputy Chair, European Affairs Committee of the Parliament |
| Ahmad Farouk | Founder and Director, the Islamic Renaissance Front (IFR) |
| Lawrence Gonzi | Former Prime Minister of Malta; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Cassam Uteem | Former President of Mauritius; Vice President, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Ernesto Zedillo | Former President of Mexico |
| Claudia Ruiz Massieu | Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico |
| Enrique Krauze | Historian and Editor, Letras Libres |
| Jorge Castaneda | Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico |
| Sergio Aguayo | Professor, Colegio de Mexico, Visiting Scientist, Harvard University |
| Maia Sandu | Former Prime Minister of Moldova |
| Elbegdorj Tsakhia | Former President of Mongolia |
| Sanjaasuren Bayaraa | Special Advisor, the Zorig Foundation; Former Ambassador of Mongolia to India |
| Milica Kovacevic | President, Center for Democratic Transision |
| Srdjan Darmanovic | Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro |
| Mohammed Masbah | Director, Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis |
| Mokhtar Benabdallaoui | Professor of Islamic Studies, Hassan II University |
| Joaquim Alberto Chissano | Former President of the Republic of Mozambique; Chairperson, the Joaquim Chissano Foundation |
| Bhoj Raj Pokharel | Former Chief Election Commissioner of Nepal |
| Pragya Lamsal | Development professional and women’s rights activist |
| Jan Peter Balkenende | Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands |
| Emine Bozkurt | Former Member of the European Parliament |
| Hans van Baalen | President, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| Jeroen Dijsselbloem | Former Minister of Finance of the Netherlands; Former President, Eurogroup |
| Kati Piri | Member of the European Parliament |
| Laurens Jan Brinkhorst | Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands |
| Lilianne Ploumen | Member of Parliament; Former Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands |
| Helen Clark | Former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former Deputy Prime Minister; Former Administrator of the UNDP |
| Don McKinnon | Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand |
| Enrique José Bolaños Geye | Former President of Nicaragua |
| Carlos Fernando Chamorro | Editor, Confidencial |
| Cristiana Chamorro | Founder, the Violeta Chamorro Foundation |
| Edmundo Jarquín | Former Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidate of Nicaragua |
| Olusegun Obasanjo | Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Chair, the West Africa Commission on Drugs |
| Ayo Obe | Legal Practitioner and Former Chairperson, Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy |
| Clement Nwankwo | Founding Chairman, the Transition Monitoring Group |
| Innocent Chukwuma | Founder, the Center for Law Enforcement Education |
| Jibrin Ibrahim | Senior Fellow, Center for Democracy and Development Abuja |
| Maryam Garba Usman | Executive Director, Center for Advocacy in Gender and Social Inclusion CAGSI |
| Rinsola Abiola | Advocate for gender equity and youth inclusion in politics; Member of the Board of Directors of Young Women in Politics Forum |
| Samson Itodo | Executive Director, YIAGA and Initiator of the Not Too Young to Run campaign |
| Wole Soyinka | Nobel Laureate in Literature |
| Zoran Zaev | Former Prime Minister of North Macedonia |
| Oliver Spasovski | President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia |
| Kjell Magne Bondevik | Former Prime Minister of Norway; Founder and Executive Chair, the Oslo Center |
| Bjørn Engesland | Secretary-General, Norwegian Helsinki Committee |
| Thor Halvorssen | President, the Oslo Freedom Forum |
| Vidar Helgesen | Former Secretary-General, International IDEA |
| Gulalai Ismail | Founder and Chairperson, Aware Girl |
| Husain Haqqani | Director, South and Central Asia, The Hudson Institute; Former Ambassador to the United States |
| Zafarullah Khan | CEO, Civic Concerns |
| Azmi Shuabi | Former Member of Parliament |
| Walid Salem | Palestinian Intellectual |
| Serena Sumanop | CEO, the Digicel PNG Foundation |
| Federico Franco Gómez | Former President of Paraguay |
| Diego Abente Brun | Former Senator and Minister of Justice and Labor of Paraguay |
| Line Bareiro | Founder, Centro de Documentación y Estudios (CDE-Paraguay); Former Member, the United Nations Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) |
| Milda Rivarola | Member of the Academia Paraguaya de la Historia |
| Beatriz Merino | The President of the Council of Ministers of Peru and National Ombudswoman |
| Gustavo Gorriti | Journalist and Director, IDL-Reporter |
| Lucia Dammert | Professor, University of Santiago of Chile |
| Mario Vargas Llosa | Nobel Laureate for Literature |
| Chito Gascon | Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights |
| Maria Ressa | CEO and Executive Editor, Rappler |
| Maxine Tanya Hamada | Corporate Secretary, iLEAD |
| Teresita Quintos-Deles | Chairperson, INCITEGov |
| Jerzy Buzek | Member of the European Parliament and Former Prime Minister of Poland |
| Lech Wałęsa | Nobel Peace Laureate and Former President of Poland |
| Aleksander Kwasniewski | Former President of Poland |
| Adam Bodnar | Commissioner for Human Rights of Poland |
| Agnieszka Holland | Film Director |
| Danuta Przywara | President, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights |
| Leszek Balcerowicz | Former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of Finance |
| Radosław Sikorski | Member of the European Parliament; Former Foreign Minister and Minister of Defence of Poland; Chairman, the EU-USA Delegation |
| Rafal Dutkiewicz | Former Mayor of Wroclaw |
| Sławomir Sierakowski | Director, Krytyka Polityczna |
| Ana Gomes | Former Member of the European Parliament |
| Joao Carlos Espada | Director, the Institute of Political Studies, Catholic University of Lisbon |
| Andrea Ngombet | Director, Anti-Kleptocracy Strategy of Sassoufit Collective |
| Dismas Kitenge | President, LOTUS Group |
| Hong-koo Lee | Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea |
| Ha Taekyung | Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea |
| Han SungJoo | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Chairman, Asan Institute for Policy Studies |
| Ji Seong ho | Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and North Korean defector |
| Kak Soo Shin | Former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea; Fellow, Institute for Corean-American Studies; Former Ambassador; Former Deputy Permanent Representative at the Korean Mission to the United Nations |
| Keum Tae Sup | Ranking Member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly |
| Kim Se Yeon | Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea |
| Oh Joon | Former South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations |
| Seung-hee Hwangbo | Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea |
| Sook Jong Lee | Trustee, East Asia Institute; Professor, Sungkyunkwan University |
| Thae Youngho | Member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea |
| Petre Roman | Former Prime Minister of Romania |
| Alina Aflecailor | Human Rights Educator, Greenpeace Romania |
| Alina Mungiu-Pippidi | Democracy Chair, Hertie School of Governance |
| Alexander Likhotal | Professor, the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations; Advisor, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid; Former President, Green Cross International |
| Andrei Piontkovsky | Writer and Visiting Fellow, the Hudson Institute |
| Garry Kasparov | Chairman, Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI); Chairman, the Human Rights Foundation; Former World Chess Champion, Writer, and Political Activist |
| Leonid Gozman | President, Union of Right Forces (SPS) |
| Lilia Shevtsova | Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow, Robert Bosch Academy |
| Mikhail Khodorkovsky | Former Political Prisoner and Opposition Leader |
| Natalia Taubina | Director, Public Verdict Foundation |
| Vladimir Kara-Murza | Chairman, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom |
| Zhanna Nemtsova | Co-founder, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom; Journalist and Social Activist |
| Yahya Assiri | Founder, ALQST |
| Abdoulaye Bathily | Former Member and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Senegal; Former UN Under-Secretary General |
| Cheikh Oumar Cyrille Touré (aka Thiat) | Co-founder of Y’en a Marre |
| Penda Mbow | Historian and President, Mouvement Citoyen |
| Andrej Nosov | Founder, Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) |
| Ivan Đurić | Coordinator, the World Youth Movement for Democracy |
| Natasa Kandić | Founder, Humanitarian Law Center |
| Sonja Biserko | Chair, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights |
| Vukosava Crnjanski | Director, Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability |
| Ernest Bai Koroma | Former President of Sierra Leone |
| Noeleen Heyzer | Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; Advisor, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid ; Former United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Timor-Leste |
| Iveta Radicova | Former Prime Minister of Slovakia |
| Martin Butora | Honorary Chairman, Institute for Public Affairs |
| Martin Hojsik | Member of the European Parliament |
| Peter Pollak | Member of the European Parliament |
| Hassan Shire | Chairperson, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network |
| FW de Klerk | Nobel Peace Laureate and Former President of South Africa; Founder, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Adam Habib | Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg |
| Graca Machel | Founder, Graca Machel Trust; Executive Chair, Mandele Institute for Development Studies in Johannesburg |
| Thuli Madonsela | Former Public Protector of South Africa; Founder, Thuma Foundation for Democracy Leadership and Literacy |
| Ana Palacio | Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain |
| Cristina Manzano | Director, esGlobal |
| Radhika Coomaraswamy | Former Under Secretary General and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict |
| Ravindra De Silva | Co-founder and Executive Director, AFRIEL Youth Network |
| Carl Bildt | Former Prime Minister of Sweden |
| Bengt Säve-Söderbergh | Former Secretary-General, International IDEA |
| Cecilia Malmström | Former Member of the European Commission; Visiting Professor, the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg |
| Margot Wallström | Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden |
| Nils Karlson | President and CEO, the The Ratio Institute |
| Robert Hardh | Member, Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy; Former Executive Director, Civil Rights Defenders |
| Kaspar Villiger | Former President of the Swiss Confederation; Founding Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Chairman, the UBS Foundation of Economics in Society |
| Micheline Calmy-Rey | Former President of the Swiss Confederation; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former President of the Council of Europe |
| Pascal Couchepin | Former President of the Swiss Confederation; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former President of the Ministerial Assembly of the World Trade Organisation |
| Bassma Kodmani | Former Executive Director, the Arab Reform Initiative |
| Audrey Tang | Member of the Executive Yuan Council of Taiwan as Digital Minister |
| Joseph Wu | Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China |
| Jon Ungphakorn | Former Member of the Senate of Thailand |
| Nidhi Eoseewong | Historian and Recipient of the Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prize |
| Lobsang Sangay | President, Central Tibet Administration |
| Jose Ramos-Horta | Nobel Peace Laureate and Former President of East Timor |
| Amine Ghali | Director, Al Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center |
| Radwan A. Masmoudi | Executive Director, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy; Civil society activist |
| Hikmet Çetin | Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Former NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan |
| Yakin Ertürk | Former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women |
| Arthur Larok | Director, Federation Development, ActionAid International |
| Livingstone Sewanyana | Executive Director, the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative; UN Independent Expert on Promoting a Democratic and Equitable International Order |
| Nicholas Opiyo | Excutive Director, Chapter Four |
| Borys Gudziak | President, the Ukrainian Catholic University |
| Borys Tarasyuk | Director, Institute for EuroAtlantic Cooperation |
| Mustafa Nayyem | Former Member of Parliament |
| Mykola Riabchuk | Honorary President, Ukrainian PEN Center |
| Myroslav Marynovych | Vice-rector, the Ukrainian Catholic University |
| Svitlana Zalishchuk | Former Member of Parliament and Former Advisor to Prime Minister |
| Yevgeniy Zakharov | Founder, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group |
| Lord George Robertson | Former Secretary-General, NATO; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Lynda Chalker | Former Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Founding Member, the Global Leadership Foundation; Founder and President, Africa Matters Limited |
| Michael Pinto-Duschinsky | Founder Governor, Westminster Foundation for Democracy |
| Pippa Norris | Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University |
| Sir Malcolm Rifkind | Former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs |
| Timothy Garton Ash | Professor of European Studies, Oxford University and Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University |
| Adolfo Garcé | Professor, the Political Science Institute, Universidad de la República in Montevideo |
| Luis Almagro | Secretary-General, Organization of American States |
| Andrew Card | Chairman, the National Endowment for Democracy |
| Andrew Natsios | Director, Scowcroft Institute of international affairs, Bush School of Government, Texas A&M University |
| Arch Puddington | Former Editor, Survey of Freedom in the World, Freedom House |
| Barbara Mikulski | Former United States Senator |
| Benjamin Rhodes | President, National Security Action; Former Deputy National Security Advisor |
| Bill Richardson | Former Governor of New Mexico; Former Ambassador to the United Nnations |
| Brian Atwood | Former USAID Administrator |
| Carol Bellamy | Former Executive Director, UNICEF |
| Catherine Marshall | Director, the Agora Research Center, CY Cergy Paris University |
| Charles Davidson | Co-founder, The American Interest |
| Chester A. Crocker | Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Member, the Global Leadership Foundation |
| Chris Fussner | Assistant Chairman, International Democratic Union |
| Cindy McCain | Chair, Board of Trustees of the McCain Institute for International Leadership |
| Claudio Lodici | Coordinator, Biennial Conference on the State of Democracy, Loyola University Chicago |
| Cliff May | President, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies |
| Constance Newman | Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs |
| David E. Price | Member of the United States House of Representatives for North Carolina |
| David J. Kramer | Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Senior Fellow, Vaclav Havel Program on Human Rights and Diplomacy, Florida International University |
| David Skaggs | Former Congressman; ViceChair, the National Endowment for Democracy |
| Dennis Cutler Blair | Admiral; Former United States Director of National Intelligence |
| Dov S. Zakheim | Former Under Secretary of Defense |
| Eileen Donahoe | Executive Director, Stanford Global Digital Policy Incubator |
| Eric Edelman | Former United States Under Secretary of Defense for Policy |
| Francis Fukuyama | Professor, Stanford University |
| Frank J. Fahrenkopf | Founding Member, the International Republican Institute; Co-chair, the Commission on the Presidential Debates |
| Fred Redmond | Vice President, United Steelworkers Union |
| Gaddi Vasquez | Former Ambassador and Former Permanent Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture |
| Gary Hart | Former United States Senator |
| George Weigel | William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies, the Ethics and Public Policy Center |
| George Will | Writer and Columnist |
| Goran Miletic | Director for Europe, Civil Rights Defenders |
| Greg Lebedev | Chairman, the Center for International Private Enterprise |
| Herbert Raymond McMaster | Former United States National Security Advisor; Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Member of Board of Directors, the Atlantic Council |
| Howard Dean | Former Governor of Vermont; Chair, DNC |
| Jeb Bush | Former Governor of Florida |
| Jeffrey Feltman | Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs |
| Jeffrey Gedmin | Editor-in-Chief and CEO, The American Interest |
| Jerry Jones | Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, ACXIOM; Advisor, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid |
| Jim Kolbe | Former Congressman; Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States |
| John Shattuck | Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; President Emeritus, the Central European University |
| Johnnie Carson | Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs |
| Josh Muravchik | Author and Adjunct Professor, The Institute of World Politics |
| Joshua Kurlantzick | Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
| Kelly Ayotte | Former United States Senator |
| Kenneth Wollack | Former President, the National Democratic Institute; Former Legislative Director, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) |
| Kristen Silverberg | Former Assistant Secretary of State |
| Kurt Volker | Former United States Ambassador to NATO and Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations |
| Larry Diamond | Senior Fellow, Stanford University Hoover Institution & Freeman Spogli Institute |
| Lee Feinstein | Former Ambassador to Poland |
| Leon Wieseltier | Editor, Liberties |
| Linda Thomas Greenfield | Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs |
| Liz Schrayer | President and CEO, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition |
| Liz Shuler | Secretary-Treasurer, the AFL-CIO |
| Madeleine Albright | Former United States Secretary of State |
| Marc Plattner | Coeditor Emeritus, Journal of Democracy |
| Marco Rubio | Senior United States Senator for Florida |
| Marcus Brauchli | Former Editor, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal |
| Mark Green | Executive Director, McCain Institute for International Leadership |
| Mel Martinez | Former United States Senator |
| Melanne Verveer | Former United States Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues |
| Michael Chertoff | Chairman, Freedom House; Former Second United States Secretary of Homeland Security |
| Michael McFaul | Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies |
| Michael Shifter | President, the Inter-American Dialogue; Adjunct Professor of Latin American Studies, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service |
| Michele Dunne | Director, Middle East Program, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| Mike Green | Former Senior Director, National Security Council |
| Moises Naim | Senior Fellow, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace |
| Niall Ferguson | Historian and Milbank Family Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University |
| Norman Eisen | Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution |
| Peter Van Praagh | President, Halifax International Security Forum |
| Philip Zimbardo | Founder, the Heroic Imagination Project |
| Rachel Hoff | Policy Director, Ronald Reagan Institute |
| Randy Scheunemann | Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, the International Republican Institute |
| Richard Fontaine | CEO, Center for a New American Security (CNAS) |
| Richard Gephardt | Former House Majority Leader; Former Chairman, NED |
| Richard Gere | Founder, the Gere Foundation; Chairman, The International Campaign for Tibet |
| Rick Atkinson | Journalist |
| Rob Berschinski | Senior Vice President for Policy, Human Rights First |
| Robert C. Miller | President, the Hurford Foundation |
| Roger Zakheim | Director, Ronald Reagan Institute; Former Commissioner, the Commission on the National Defense Strategy of the United States; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense |
| Sam Gejdenson | Former Congressman |
| Sean Carroll | President and CEO, Anera and Advisor, the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid |
| Serhii Plokhii | Professor of History, Harvard University |
| Susan Corke | Executive Director, Transatlantic Democracy Working Group, German Marshall Fund |
| Ted Piccone | Chief Engagement Officer, World Justice Project |
| Thomas Carothers | Senior Fellow, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| Thomas Daschle | Former United States Senate Majority Leader |
| Thomas Melia | Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Washington Director, PEN America |
| Timothy Snyder | Professor of History, Yale University; Permanent Fellow, the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna |
| Tod Lindberg | Senior Fellow, the Hudson Institute |
| Tom Bernstein | Chair, the Human Freedom Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Presidential Center |
| Vern Buchanan | Member of the United States House of Representatives for Florida |
| Victoria Nuland | Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs |
| Walter Mondale | Former Vice President of the United States |
| William A. Galston | Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution |
| William Antholis | Director, the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia |
| William J. Burns | Former United States Deputy Secretary of State |
| William Kristol | Director, Defending Democracy Together |
| Hasler Iglesias | Youth Coordinator, Voluntad Popular |
| Tamara Adrian | Member of National Assembly of Venezuela |
| Nguyen Quang A | Chairman, the Civil Society Forum |
| Tawakkol Karman | Nobel Peace Laureate; Founder, Women Journalists Without Chains |
| Glanis Changachirere | Founding Director, Institute for Young Women Development |