As authoritarian regimes grow more aggressive and sophisticated in flouting democratic norms and undermining democratic societies beyond their borders, the mission of the Community of Democracies is more relevant today than at any time since its founding in the year 2000. By the adoption of the Five-Year Strategic Plan for the period 2018-2023, the Community is determined to address several specific sets of challenges to democracy, including backsliding along several principles of the Warsaw Declaration such as free and fair elections, core civil and political rights, and democratic checks and balances.
