A new global order is in the making. Basic global principles such as the Westphalian order are eroding and seem to lose support globally. Equally, democracy has been on decline since 2006. Freedom House’s report Freedom in the World 2015 highlights new and disturbing global trends, including a more explicit rejection of democratic standards around the world and a return to cruder authoritarian methods. Groups as the Islamic State (ISIS) and Boko Haram or ultra-conservative evangelical movements challenge core ideas of free societies such as civic rights, gender equality or religious pluralism. However, we must not overlook promising processes of erosion of dictatorship such as in Tunisia or increasing protests against unjust and repressive rule such as in Burkina Faso, Hongkong, and Iran.

These trends pose significant challenges for the foreign policies of democratic countries and their development assistance, particularly their efforts to strengthen representative institutions and citizen participation in public life. The expert meeting gave the opportunity to discuss these challenges and their implications for international development cooperation. It brought together practitioners from the world of development cooperation and researchers. Four questions guided the discussion: What were the main advances and setbacks in democracy over the past year? How have authoritarian governments changed their methods of repression? What are the implications of these trends for German, European Union, and U.S. policy? How can democratic countries effectively cooperate with civil society in countries where repression is growing more intense?