Located at the center of historical conflicts in the Balkans, modern-day Macedonia has overcome many challenges since Yugoslavia disintegrated and the country of three million peacefully gained independence in 1991. Escalating tension between majority Macedonians and a sizable Albanian community led to open conflict in 2001 that was staunched by a peace agreement, known as the Ohrid Accords, which has provided stronger constitutional and political protections for ethnic Albanians.

In the decade since the founding of the Community of Democracies, which met June 2-4 in Poland, a major change has been the explosion of technology and the tools it has created, both for those supporting the free flow of ideas and other democratic values and for authoritarian states interested in the opposite, curtailing information and suppressing human rights.
 

"Democracy," said U.S. Rep. David Price, "cannot be imposed from without but must grow from within, organically and at its own pace."

Price was speaking at a unique week-long event in Warsaw, Poland, last month that exemplified that theme. Representatives of maturing and developing democracies gathered for two purposes. The first was to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Frost-Solomon Task Force, which in 1990-96 provided assistance from the U.S. Congress to new parliaments in Central and Eastern Europe that were emerging from communist rule. The second was a Parliamentary Staff Institute to use the lessons learned through that experience to assist representatives of 11 parliaments from different parts of the world that are making their own transitions to democratic governance.

"Georgian women cannot wait another century for equal participation in the governance of our country," said Leila Aptsiauri, a member of a local city council in Georgia. She was speaking at a conference in Tbilisi, the capital, where representatives from 11 political parties discussed with civil society leaders the benefits to including more women on candidate lists and in political party leadership structures.