From the Director
While based in New York I became familiar with the efforts of the United Nations to achieve a more peaceful world and concluded that it was inherently flawed by its structure. The Security Council gave veto power to each of the major victors of WWII, including both Russia and China. This veto power has been used to prevent any actions against their national interest. The General Assembly included 186 nations of the world, of which about 120 are totalitarian governments. Their principal objective was to stay in power. To address these significant flaws, I perceived the need for an organization whose membership was composed exclusively of democratic governments and wrote an essay proposing this action. FIF was formed in 2006 to work toward this goal.
Many countries have perceived the need for collective action to deter aggression. The best example is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which was formed by the European Allies to deter Russian aggression after WW II. Sweden and Finland have voted to join the organization and will be welcomed in. China also saw the value of a coalition of like-minded countries, and in 2001 organized the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to include Russia and the four “Stan” countries of Central Asia. Iran and Turkey have indicated they would like to join this band of thieves. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not been endorsed by all its members.
In 2017 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and Secretary General of NATO formed the Alliance of Democracies (AoD), a non-profit foundation that seeks to unite world democracies to combat protectionism, populism, nationalism, terrorism, and autocracies. AoD does not intend to replace the UN but supplement it.
These are essentially the same goals as FIF, but they have the management skills and financial backing to have a significant impact on achieving them. FIF is a “boutique think tank” but our founders believe that any additional voice in the pursuit of these fundamental values is worthwhile. Your input and support of our organization are welcome.