International Solidarity and Democratic Norm Diffusion: The Potential of the IMEC Corridor

The proposed India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC) has been framed primarily as an ambitious geoeconomic and geostrategic infrastructure initiative. Its potential to support international solidarity and diffuse democratic practice norms in a crisis region remains under-examined. This article asks to what extent can IMEC function as a platform for democratic norm diffusion and strengthened international solidarity between Europe, India, and societies across the Middle East? Drawing on an analysis of policy statements, planning documents, and public diplomacy, complemented by semi-structured interviews with policymakers, civil-society actors, and stakeholders in Europe, India, and key Middle Eastern transit countries, the study investigates how IMEC’s governance arrangements, political narratives, and implementation modalities may embed or constrain democratic “software” within a largely top-down infrastructure “hardware” project. The analysis situates IMEC within broader debates on the political economy of connectivity, norm diffusion, and development cooperation. It pays particular attention to how democratic principles—transparency, participation, accountability, and inclusion—might travel along the corridor not only through policy conditionality or EU standards, but through stakeholder coalitions, institutional design, and networked cooperation. The article advances the hypothesis that IMEC is most likely to support democratic norm diffusion and foster international solidarity when designed and governed as a multilateral, networked platform rather than a linear corridor, enabling actor inclusion, shared decision-making, and context-sensitive governance reforms.