Institute of Democracy and Cooperation


The Institute of Democracy and Cooperation is a think tank in Paris. It is a separate organisation from the similarly named think-tank in New York. Both were founded in 2008 by a Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena and a group of Russian NGOs, but they were operationally and structurally independent of one another. The New York IDC gets defunct in 2015. The Paris site is headed by historian and former Russian State Duma deputy Natalia Narochnitskaya. The British philosopher and historian John Laughland is Director of Studies.
The institute is repeatedly connected to Russian funds and visions in media and by researchers, and is said to be created following an initiative by Putin. When asked on these connections, the former IDC director John Laughland denies any of those suggested 'persistent rumours'.

Focus

The Institute describes its aims as being
It describes its outlook on human rights and international relations as "broadly conservative", referring to its emphasis on the nation-state as the best framework for the realisation of human rights and a belief that "humanitarian intervention" is often counter-productive.
The institute is active all over Europe, with partners in Rome, Berlin and Prague, and it has organised several Side Events at the UN in Geneva.