Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, argues that AI governance has become a test of democratic security precisely as the international rules-based order frays amid conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Gaza. He points to the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on AI—a binding treaty requiring signatories to ensure AI systems respect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law—as a model, noting it has 21 signatories including all G7 members and was ratified by the EU in May 2026. Berset contends that shared international law, rather than fragmented national approaches, offers the best path to governing AI responsibly.
