A ‘Democracy’ Summit
A surreal moment to wrap up last month was Joe Biden, president of a country the EIU describes as ‘a flawed democracy’, hosting the second Summit for Democracy. It is reassuring that the means Biden chose to buttress democracy was a virtual summit rather than the invasion of a sovereign state. The fallout from Iraq and Afghanistan has taught the US, for now at least, that democracy cannot be imposed at gunpoint.
It was the outcome of the US presidential election of 2020, (remember the hanging chads?), which was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court that has legitimised the upsurge in dissatisfied leaders across the world crying foul and demanding recounts.
Election challenges reached their zenith in 2020 when President Donald Trump questioned the outcome of that election before voting had even taken place. The Republican party remains enthralled to Trump rather than committed to the preservation of the US democratic system and Liz Cheyney, the one Republican Senator who spoke out, lost her Wisconsin seat in the mid-terms.
The failure thus far of the US justice system to prosecute a former president for encouraging his supporters to storm the Capitol Building on 6th January 2021, is a significant flaw. This lack of censor appears to have provided justification for Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters to replicate this behaviour in the wake of the Brazilian election on 8th January 2023.
Which brings us back to the democracy summit.
Turkey and Hungary were not invited because the US considers them to be ‘illiberal democracies’ but in inviting India and Israel, the Biden administration applied the term ‘liberal’ in its loosest sense. The administration says little about the treatment of India’s Muslim minority or actions in Kashmir, but openly describes China’s treatment of the Xhigurs as genocide. Biden’s nominee, for a democracy position, Sarah Margon, withdraw in the face of Republican questioning of her support for Israel, despite the fact tens of thousands of Israel’s own citizens were on the streets protesting against Netanyahu’s attempts to undermine the powers of the judiciary.
At the height of its soft power, over half of the world’s population wanted to live in the US. The invasion of Iraq and domestic polarisation has undermined this positive perception. The US may consider itself a ‘light unto the world’ but what it is now exporting is disrespect for democratic processes and hypocritical double standards in its external relations. The Biden administration needs to revise its playbook if it wants to see a resurgence in its soft power. When it comes to spreading democracy militarily, Washington isn’t very good at it, whilst its domestic politics fails to lead by example.