And I am delighted that this Forum could be conducted in parallel with the first Community of Democracies meeting of foreign ministers. Because one of the great lessons we have learned is that when public and nongovernmental organizations pull together, we can lift the lives of people everywhere. Yesterday, in Gdansk, I offered my thoughts on why it matters so much that we are coming together here in Poland to ensure that the democratic tide remains a rising tide around the world. Today, I would like to present some ideas on how we can make concrete progress toward that vital goal. This begins with the recognition of a double-edged reality.
Democracy is stronger than it has ever been, and also more vulnerable in more places.
This is because democratic forces have gained so much, and because young democracies are inherently fragile. And so we know that democratic cooperation on a global basis is more possible than ever before, and also more necessary. As the proposed Warsaw Declaration reflects, democracies come in many shapes and sizes, but their defining elements are no longer in dispute. And as the diversity evident here in Warsaw shows, democratic values have put down roots in every major culture, on every continent on Earth. Each woman and every man has a social and political identity.