International Affairs Network

IAN is a Lisbon based think-thank created to develop research, policy papers and education on the rules-based global order founded on the three main pillars of liberal democracies: the rule of law, checks and balances and free speech. We aim to engage the civil society, academia and businesses in looking for answers to the challenges this rules-based global order is facing, namely the retrenchment of the US, Brexit, the growing paralysis of its institutions such as the WTO, external competition from regions with alternative values and rules. We will center our work in a) rethinking the global order’s institutional setting, static since WW2; b) finding ways to engage with competitor models of governance, sometimes opposing values to those that are the founding pillars of liberal democracies; and c) tackling global challenges such as global warming or the effects of digitalisation, effectively, finding opportunities for smart green development.