President Joe Biden Wednesday offered an optimistic view of the health of democracy around the world, saying leaders are “turning the tide” by reversing a years-long setback in democratic institutions.
Opening his second democracy summit, Biden sought to highlight promising progress over the past year despite Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine and US tensions with China over its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
The president cited signs of progress around the world, Angola’s efforts to create an independent judiciary, Croatia’s move to strengthen government transparency and the Dominican Republic’s anti-corruption measures. At home, Biden pointed to his stalled push to protect votes in Congress as evidence of his administration’s commitment to supporting democracy.
“Today we can proudly say that the world’s democracies are getting stronger, not weaker,” Biden said. “The world’s autocracies are getting weaker, not stronger. This is the direct result of all of us.
The summits, which Biden promised as a 2020 candidate, have become an important part of his administration’s efforts to try to build deeper alliances and push autocratic-leaning nations toward at least modest change.
He said the United States would spend $690 million to strengthen democratic programs — supporting everything from free and independent media to free and fair elections — around the world. He said he also wanted to use the summit to foster discussion on the use of technology to “advance democratic governance” and ensure that technology is “not used to undermine it”.
The United States has reached an agreement with 10 other countries on guiding principles for how governments should use surveillance technology, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the agreement before its official announcement.
Earlier this week, Biden signed an executive order restrict the US government’s use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to monitor human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world.
Since Biden’s first democracy summit in December 2021, countries have emerged from the coronavirus pandemic and Russia has invaded. Ukrainethe biggest war in Europe since World War II.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, pushed back against those who suggested it was time to broker a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “We must get rid of the illusion that compromise with evil can give something to freedom, and the enemies of democracy must lose,” Zelenskyy said at the summit.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the invasion was a shocking moment for democracies around the world.
“For decades, the idea of a war in Europe seemed unthinkable. But we were wrong because Russia’s brutalization of Ukraine showed that we cannot assume that democracy, freedom and security are given, that they are eternal,” Rutte said.
Kenyan President William Ruto has said that building democracy is essential for the growth of developing countries. Ruto was the winner final year of Kenya’s close presidential race in which opposition candidate Raila Odinga had alleged irregularities. Kenya’s Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the challenges.
“This is our path to sustainability,” Ruto said.
The United States hosted the last summit alone. This time he recruited four co-hosts – Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia – after ambassadors from China and Russia criticized the first summit and accused Biden of causing a global divide. with a cold war mentality.
Yet some countries prefer not to come between Washington and Beijing, an increasingly important economic and military player.
Pakistan announced, as in 2021, that they had received an invitation but that they jump the topa move seen in part as an effort by the impoverished Islamic nation to appease longtime ally China, which was uninvited.
The Biden administration has also expanded its list of invitations. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gambia, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Lichtenstein, Mauritania, Mozambique and Tanzania have been invited this year after being dropped from the list in 2021.
The first day of the summit has been convened in a virtual format and will be followed by hybrid gatherings in each of the host countries on Thursday.
Costa Rica will focus on the role of young people in democratic systems. The Dutch attack media freedom. South Korea is cracking down on corruption. Zambia focuses on free and fair elections
The United States is no stranger to the challenges facing democracies, including deep polarization and pervasive disinformation.
Spread lies about presidential election 2020 by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters convinced a majority of Republicans that Biden was not legitimately elected, normalized harassment and death threats against election officials, and was used to justify efforts in Republican-controlled legislatures adopt new voting restrictions.
Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in an Alabama case that suffrage advocates say could virtually dismantle the nearly 60-year-old Voting Rights Act. Congressional efforts to consolidate this federal law and increase access to the vote have failed.
Biden entered office vowing that human rights and democracy would play an important role in his approach to foreign policy. But he has been criticized by some human rights campaigners for being too lenient towards Saudi Arabia And Egypt about their human rights record. The administration sees the two nations as important partners in bringing stability to the Middle East.
More recently, Biden administration officials at odds with close ally Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to push forward a high-profile project judicial overhaul that American concerns will diminish Israel’s democracy.
Netanyahu, in his remarks at the summit’s opening session, said Israel remained a “robust democracy” amid “very intense public debate.”
“Democracy is the will of the people expressed by a majority, and it is also the protection of civil rights, individual rights. It’s the balance between the two,” he said.
Following his appearance at the summit’s plenary session, Biden will welcome Argentinian President Alberto Fernández, a summit participant, for talks.
