One might say President Joe Biden has democratized his democracy summit. At the second summit taking place this week, the United States is no longer the sole head honcho but is sharing the lead with four co-hosts: South Korea, Costa Rica, Zambia, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
The intent, analysts say, is to send the message that while democracy faces challenges across the globe, it is also democracies in every region that are setting examples of prosperity, stability, and meeting citizens\u2019 needs. Add to that, message No. 2: that the U.S. wants to demonstrate humility and learn as much as any of the 120 participating countries.<\/p>\n
Science & Nature Why We Wrote This<\/h2>\n
Two years into President Biden\u2019s signature pro-democracy initiative, the forces of autocracy are still flexing their muscles. But successful democracies from around the world are co-hosting a second democracy summit. What lessons can they provide?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Also making this gathering different: Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine starkly demonstrating the authoritarian threat against democracies, White House officials and analysts say. Some add that the Ukrainians\u2019 determination to preserve their independence and freedoms is inspiring a renewal of democratic aspirations globally.<\/p>\n
Their battle \u201cis an inspiration to democratic forces around the world,\u201d says\u00a0Carisa Nietsche at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. Ukraine\u2019s staying power and the solidarity it has awakened among other democracies, she adds, \u201cprovide a strong counternarrative to what we heard coming out of the pandemic \u2013 that autocracies were better at addressing big challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
At the Biden administration\u2019s second democracy summit taking place this week, the United States is no longer the sole head honcho but is sharing the lead with four co-hosts: South Korea, Costa Rica, Zambia, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
One might say President Joe Biden has democratized his democracy summit.<\/p>\n
After facing international criticism when organizing the first democracy summit in 2021 that the initiative was too top-down and U.S.-driven \u2013 especially given America\u2019s own serious challenges on the democracy front \u2013 the White House shifted gears and adopted the co-hosting format.<\/p>\n
Science & Nature Why We Wrote This<\/h2>\n
Two years into President Biden\u2019s signature pro-democracy initiative, the forces of autocracy are still flexing their muscles. But successful democracies from around the world are co-hosting a second democracy summit. What lessons can they provide?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The intent, analysts say, is to send the message that while democracy faces challenges across the globe, it is also democracies in every region of the world that are setting examples of prosperity, stability, and meeting citizens\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
Add to that, message No. 2: That the U.S., far from projecting \u201cThis is how it\u2019s done,\u201d wants to demonstrate humility and is out to learn as much from the process as any of the 120 participating countries.<\/p>\n
The co-hosting format \u201cis in response to a criticism that the United States faced the first time around, that this was very unilaterally driven,\u201d says Marti Flacks, Khosravi chair in principled internationalism and director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Moreover, she adds, \u201cthe country- and regional-specific contexts are really where the rubber meets the road in terms of democracy and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also making Mr. Biden\u2019s second gathering of democracies different is the international context: Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine places in stark relief the authoritarian threat against democracies, White House officials and analysts say.<\/p>\n
Some add that the Ukrainian people\u2019s determination to preserve their independence and freedoms is inspiring a renewal of democratic aspirations globally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis summit takes place against the backdrop of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and Ukrainians\u2019 ongoing demonstration of democracy\u2019s resilience,\u201d says Carisa Nietsche, an associate fellow in transatlantic security and threats to democracy at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.<\/p>\n
Their battle \u201cis an inspiration to democratic forces around the world,\u201d she says. Ukraine\u2019s staying power and the solidarity it has awakened among other democracies, she adds, \u201cprovide a strong counternarrative to what we heard coming out of the pandemic \u2013 that autocracies were better at addressing big challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/images.csmonitor.com\/csm\/2023\/03\/0329%20OBIDENDEMOCRACY%20screens.jpg?alias=standard_900x600\")
\n\t\t<\/picture>\n<\/figure>\nWorld leaders attend virtually as President Joe Biden speaks during a Summit for Democracy virtual plenary in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, March 29, 2023, in Washington. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Ukraine\u2019s battle with authoritarian Russia is just one of the signs Freedom House cited to conclude in its annual report early this month that the global struggle for democracy may have reached a \u201cturning point\u201d with democracies\u2019 prospects brightening in every region of the world. Others cite mass pro-democracy movements in countries as diverse as Iran and Israel as indicators of democracy\u2019s enduring appeal.<\/p>\n
Science & Nature Challenges and lessons<\/h2>\n
President Biden addressed the summit\u2019s virtual plenary session Wednesday with an overview of global challenges to democracy. He was joined by Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on democracy delivering shared prosperity; Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on democracy delivering justice for all; Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema on democracy delivering strong institutions; and Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves Robles on democracy delivering inclusion and equality.<\/p>\n
On Thursday the five co-hosts are set to chair discussions among leaders on key challenges democracies are facing, including corruption; free, fair, and transparent elections; press freedom; youth participation in democracy; and dealing with the good and bad of technology\u2019s impact on democracy.<\/p>\n
Mr. Biden as presidential candidate made bolstering democracy a pillar of his foreign policy platform, and came into office declaring the confrontation between democracy and autocracy the century\u2019s defining battle. But his first two years in the White House have not ushered in a global democratic renaissance.<\/p>\n
A recent report from the research institute Varieties of Democracy estimates that 72% of the world\u2019s population now lives in autocracies, up from 46% in 2012. This month, Freedom House declared 2022 the 17th consecutive year of global democratic decline \u2013 although the freedom watchdog\u2019s annual report did find that the \u201cpace\u201d of democracy\u2019s decline has slowed.<\/p>\n
Science & Nature \u201cPageantry over policy\u201d<\/h2>\n
Given that context, some experts call the summits a distraction from playing hardball against autocrats.<\/p>\n
In an article this week in Foreign Policy, Jon Temin, who served on the State Department policy planning staff under President Barack Obama, sums up the democracy summits as \u201cpageantry over policy.\u201d Mr. Biden, he says, should focus less on celebrating those at the head of the democracy class and more on directly challenging backsliders and rising authoritarians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWashington cannot advance the cause of democracy simply by bolstering those who champion it, [but] must also confront the authoritarians responsible for democratic decline,\u201d writes Mr. Temin, now vice president of policy and programs at the Truman Center for National Policy in Washington.<\/p>\n
The U.S., he says, should focus more on making \u201cthe hard choices between values and interests\u201d instead of skirting them.<\/p>\n
Once again this year, the summit\u2019s invitation list raised eyebrows and elicited charges of hypocrisy. Perceived democracy backsliders Hungary and Turkey, both NATO allies, were shunned, while India and the Philippines \u2013 both facing criticism for worsening human rights records and rising authoritarian tendencies \u2013 were included.<\/p>\n
Others say, however, that the co-hosting format goes some ways toward addressing accusations of hypocrisy and Western democracies\u2019 arrogance.<\/p>\n
Sharing the hosting spotlight \u201cis sending the strong message that this is not just about the United States, but that strengthening democracy is a team sport and requires participation around the globe,\u201d says Ms. Nietsche at the Center for a New American Security.<\/p>\n
Inclusion of \u201cthe Global South\u201d among the hosts is especially important, she says, as it underscores democracy\u2019s relevance to developed and developing countries alike. It will also allow for including topics of particular importance to the Global South, she adds, noting that Costa Rica will chair discussions on involvement of youth in democratic governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a key concern for countries across Latin America and Africa,\u201d she says, \u201cwhere youth populations are large and growing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Science & Nature Focus on prosperity<\/h2>\n
Other proponents of the democracy summits say that perhaps their greatest strength is the inclusion of civil society and the private-sector business community as crucial partners in the battle to stave off rising authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
Some call the economic dimension of the democracy struggle key, noting that it is the freedoms and guarantees of the democratic system \u2013 such as the rule of law \u2013 that have allowed free societies to prosper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea of a robust marketplace of ideas, with freedom of speech and freedom of association, that is really crucial for real innovation,\u201d says Suzanne Spaulding, director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at CSIS. \u201cChina struggles to match our level of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Nietsche highlights the focus the U.S. is placing on initiatives that aim to make technology a partner in strengthening democracy. She notes that the summit process will launch diverse initiatives, among them connecting civil society with messaging technologies, limiting exports of surveillance technologies to autocracies, and developing rare-earth synthetics to address dependencies on autocracies like China.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big emphasis we\u2019re going to see coming out of this summit will be countering the misuse of technology,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Yes, \u201cpageantry\u201d will no doubt be part of Mr. Biden\u2019s democracy summit, Ms. Nietsche says.<\/p>\n
But noting that the process will result in hundreds of projects \u201caiming for measurable outcomes\u201d and led by leaders, business, and civil society, she adds, \u201cIf we have to take a little bit of pageantry along with the initiatives aimed at advancing democracy going forward, I think it\u2019s well worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n