The South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF) is a Brussels-based think tank devoted to South Asia and its relationship with the European Union (EU) in the context of a global, changing world. SADF was an initiative based on the vision of both our Community forefathers and our contemporaneous, such as Jacques Delors: a world with democratic (national and supranational) institutions where all nations, peoples, traditions, and beliefs are respected without backward hierarchies or any kind of prejudice. The EU itself has strived for half a century to develop into such a democratic body and aims to contribute significantly to freedom, peace, democracy, and development both in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Proud of our history and its achievements, yet duly conscious of the many drawbacks, we view democracy as a common heritage of human development and civilisation around the world, be it the traditionally acknowledged Greek archipelago, the under-studied Indus Valley or the even lesser known cultures around the world, all of which valued human freedom and dignity. It is our belief that international or even globalised institutional cooperation constitute today a crucial means for humanity to overcome its common challenges and build a better future for our descendants.

The EU, however democratic in its institutional design, is as concerned about preserving democracy as everyone else in the world. Democracy is not the panacea that insures efficiency and success; as a human construction, it is bound to be plagued by error. It literally took centuries to develop in the western hemisphere and left much misery and loss on its path. Even after the long struggle seemed to have established it for good, drawbacks were recurrent in spite of the best institutional provisions and efforts. Democracy is never free from the danger of being captured by specific interests into an oligarchy or sliding into demagogy, as an antechamber of anarchy and despotism; this has been true in history as it still is in our day. Democracy in this context is often confused with a gathering of technical prescriptions to achieve ‘good governance’, but we believe it has to be seen by how well they are serving the set of universal principles and rules – practical protection of human rights across society, equal opportunities,  freedom of choice and freedom of belief – that may appear in different forms and shades but are all based on the same common humanist values. As a supranational entity with a long and painful history of overcoming sectarian strife, the EU’s stance is particularly vehement as concerns the rejection of all supremacist ideologies based on religion, ethnicity, or nation.

AIM

Our starting points are the European Community construction – not ignoring the other existing European and transatlantic dimensions – and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as well as other cooperation spheres that sometimes go beyond the Indian subcontinent. Our aim is to connect these different networks and to provide an alternative source of analysis on South Asian affairs for European policy makers. To this end, SADF organises high-level contacts, stimulates studies and evaluations, designs and disseminates research methods and concepts, combines networks and supports; it brings together people, private and public institutions, that can contribute to Europe-South Asia related cooperation and understanding.

ACTION

Other than our annual conferences that aim at highlighting what we perceive as the most important opportunities and challenges faced by the region, SADF produces in-house research and policy advice, and promotes promising external research dedicated to enduring peace, regional cooperation, democracy building, and integrated development in the South Asian region through its external publications. In the series ‘Contemporary South Asian Studies’ directed and animated by SADF, we published and intend to continue to publish major works on the opportunities and challenges faced by the region. SADF cooperates with like-minded civil society think tanks and other organisations and aims at offering public guidance for the conduct of democracies.

STRUCTURE

Our work is organised through two research programmes, one on democracy and the other on regional cooperation.