This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
U.S. President Joe Biden has warned of a “backward slide” in rights and democracy around the globe as he opened a virtual summit with representatives from some 100 countries.
In a December 9 speech opening a two-day Summit for Democracy, Biden called for renewed commitments to preserve democracies against the spread of authoritarianism.
Biden said trends are “largely pointing in the wrong direction” and that democracy needs “champions.”
“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. And we have to renew it with each generation,” he said. “In my view, this is the defining challenge of our time.”
The White House has billed the summit as a way for the United States and like-minded allies to collaborate against authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights abuses.
As the summit opened, the Biden administration said it was working with Congress to provide $424.4 million toward a new initiative for the renewal of democracy around the world, including support for independent news media and democratic reformers.
The summit has been sharply criticized by China and Russia as well as other countries such as NATO ally Hungary that weren’t invited.
Ahead of the summit, the ambassadors to Washington from China and Russia wrote a joint essay in the conservative National Interest policy journal defending their own forms of government and accusing the United States of pursuing a “Cold War mentality” that will “stoke up ideological confrontation” in the world.
“No country has the right to judge the world’s vast and varied political landscape by a single yardstick,” wrote ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China.
There has also been controversy about the list of invitees.
Pakistan and the Philippines were invited, while EU member Hungary’s nationalist government wasn’t. Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was invited, while the leader of NATO member Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was shunned.
The summit comes as there are questions about the state of U.S. democracy.
America’s global standing took a hit under former President Donald Trump, who along with some Republicans attempted to discredit the 2020 election in which he lost, leading to an assault on the U.S. Capitol.
