The Summit for Democracy kicked off on Thursday at the initiative of US President Joe Biden. For the first time in the world, such a conference is being held with the participation of hundreds of countries, where Biden is presiding. The purpose of this conference is to prevent the decline of democracy, human rights and freedom in the world. It is being seen as a major test for Biden to bring the United States back to world leadership, ignoring the authoritarian regimes of Russia and China. News AFP.
The conference was organized through a video link due to the coronavirus epidemic. Under Secretary of State for Civil Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Jaya said, “Make no mistake, we are in a moment of democratic reckoning. It is no secret that global democracies are increasingly being challenged by new and innovative threats. Countries in almost every region of the world are falling behind in democracy. ‘
The conference will continue on Friday. Apart from the heads of government of different countries, representatives of various non-governmental organizations, businessmen and officials of charitable organizations have also been involved in it.
However, before the start of the conference, Biden is facing a major challenge to his country’s democracy. Donald Trump’s behavior during last year’s presidential election in particular has created a worrying backdrop for the conference. In addition, there is tension over which country will be in Biden’s democracy conference and which will be left out.
In Biden’s view, China and Russia, the champions of the dictatorship camp, have been dropped from the list. However, these two countries have only highlighted it as an ideological distance.
Russia and China, two members of the Security Council, have stated opposition to using force or imposing sanctions on Iran.
Pushing China even further, the Biden administration has invited Taiwan to this year’s conference. China considers Taiwan as part of its territory. On Monday, the United States said it would not send officials to the Winter Olympics in China. The United States has said in a statement that the decision was taken in protest of “genocide” and human rights abuses against Xinjiang’s Uyghurs.
Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, allies of the United States, have agreed in unison to boycott diplomacy. However, Russia has criticized the decision.
The decision to exclude other countries from the conference for human rights violations or vote rigging was quite complicated. For example, Pakistan and the Philippines were invited to the conference, but Hungary did not have a place in the national government. Brazil’s right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro has been invited, but Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been ignored.
But the big challenge for Biden is to restore confidence in democracy at home. Donald Trump could not accept the results of the last election. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
Bruce Gentelson, a professor of political science at Duke University, said Biden’s “idea of democracy” was not a good one.
Gentlemen added, “Our problems are more obvious than in Western democracies. Our Capitol building has been attacked. Coup attempts have been made. We have never seen that happen in Paris, the Bundestag or Brussels. “
“If we want to compete, we have to give our best,” said Gentelson, a political scientist. It is more important for us in the country than to say that we like democracy with 100 leaders in one place. ‘
