allow for the free flow of information and ideas, while protecting personal information and individual privacy.respect and protect the freedoms of speech, conscience, religion, the press, expression, association, and assembly.Governments, as well as private entities and individuals where they are able, have a responsibility to: We affirm the right of all people to live in free and just societies, where fundamental rights are protected under the rule of law. We call on all who are willing to join us in this common cause. Inspired by the inalienable rights derived from our ethics, traditions, and faiths, we commit ourselves to seek a better future for our citizens and our nations. We will defend our values, overcome past failures with new ideas, answer lies with truth, confront aggression with strength, and go forward with the confidence that our principles will prevail. And authoritarians who stifle enterprise, dispense arbitrary justice, and abuse their people ultimately will fail. Nations that uphold them are more likely to work together in peace. Societies that respect these principles are better placed to produce security and prosperity. Yet our principles remain sound because they reflect the common aspirations of the human spirit. Governments that answer to their citizens and respect the rule of law can best address inequity, correct injustice, and serve the good of all.įree nations must adapt and change. Empowered men and women can address social problems from the bottom up. Entrepreneurship based on freedom and new ideas can drive prosperity.
Innovations in communications, energy, health, and more yet to come are opening possibilities unimaginable before. Yet, free peoples have met greater challenges in the past, and we can master those in our time. Autocrats and extremists are attacking these principles, oppressing their own people, threatening security, and contending that might makes right. Increased migration is fueling concerns about job security and national identity.Īround the world, politicians are exploiting these challenges, denigrating the rule of law, and undermining faith in democracy. In many of our nations, stagnant wages, income disparities, and uneven benefits from global trade are leading many to question free market economics and the value of engagement in the world. New technologies are transforming societies. The resulting order, built on the foundation of democratic values and human dignity, has brought better lives for our citizens and billions of people around the world.īut the international system must rise to meet new challenges. We, citizens, former officials, and representatives of governments and private entities, united by common values, have agreed as follows:įor seven decades, free nations have drawn upon common principles to advance freedom, increase prosperity, and secure peace.
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