About the Forum
Initiated in 2014, the Atlantic Council’s D-10 Strategy Forum brings together top policy planning officials and strategy experts from ten leading democracies at the forefront of building and maintaining the rules-based democratic order. Participants in this “Democracies 10” — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus the European Union — have demonstrated a commitment to shared values and interests, and possess the requisite diplomatic, economic, and military resources to act on a global scale. Other democracies – including India, Indonesia, Poland, and Spain – have participated as observers on occasion.
D-10 meetings
D-10 Strategy Forum meetings are hosted by the foreign ministries of participating D-10 states. Previous meetings have taken place in:
- Washington, 2022 (press release)
- Virtual, 2020 (press release)
- Berlin, 2019 (press release)
- Seoul, 2018
- London, 2017
- Tokyo, September 2016
- Brussels, January 2016
- Rome, June 2015
- Ottawa, July 2014
Separately, the Atlantic Council convenes the D-10 Ambassadors Roundtable, which brings together Washington-based ambassadors for a regular series of consultations on global challenges.
Origins of the D-10
The “D-10” construct has its origins in a State Department policy planning staff initiative launched in 2008, which convened policy planning directors from US allies across the Atlantic and Pacific for a strategic dialogue on global challenges. Subsequently, Atlantic Council Director for Democratic Order Ash Jain and former State Department policy planning director David Gordon suggested that the D-10 could serve as a standing platform for strategic collaboration that would allow the U.S. and its like-minded allies to advance common interests and shared values. The first D-10 Strategy Forum meeting was held in Ottawa in 2014.
Strategy papers
Note: The views expressed in the strategy papers reflect those solely of the co-authors, and are not intended to imply endorsement or approval by any other participants in the D-10 Strategy Forum.
The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.