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Biden's Summit for Democracy gets slow start on tech concerns
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:
What is the goal of the Summit for Democracy?
President Biden ran his campaign for the soul of the nation and wanted to show the world at the same time that America is back. So the idea of having better cooperation between democracies is one with growing support, especially given the rise of authoritarianism, but also attacks on civil society and the use of technologies for repression and harm to democracy directly.
What were the outcomes of the summit?
Those have, unfortunately, not quite materialized yet. It started with a lot of fuss around which countries should be included. Singapore and Hungary were not invited, while Iraq, Brazil, and Pakistan were welcomed. So, where the Democratic line was drawn was not very clear. Now, having countries aspire to be included, I think is good, but then what remains the true Democratic basis of such a large tent is a big question. And the closer the day of the summit came, the more it was considered the kickoff of a year of action. So not much action to start with. The Alliance for the Future of the Internet was pushed further into that year, at the last moment, after criticism of experts and civil society groups. I was quite surprised that there were only a couple hundred people watching the livestream of President Biden's address in which he did announce a fund for public interest media. And so in one year I think a stock-taking of all actions should be held and only then can we assess whether the summit really made a difference, both at home in the United States and globally.
Who’s in Joe Biden’s democracy club?
The Biden administration’s much-touted Summit for Democracy kicks off on Thursday. A total of 110 countries are invited, with some puzzling choices and omissions.
Illiberal Poland is attending, but not illiberal Hungary. Seven of the 10 Southeast Asian nations are out, but several quasi-democracies in Africa are in. Brazil's authoritarian-minded President Jair Bolsonaro is an acceptable democrat for Joe Biden, but not Bolivia's democratically-elected President Luis Arce.
The criteria to get a ticket is as unclear as what Biden’s democratic virtual get-together wants to achieve.
The official goal of the two-day meeting is “to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action." Leaders from governments, civil society, and the private sector will give speeches and debate things like press freedom, misinformation, and digital voting.
And… that’s all, folks.
So, what is it really about? Biden says the talk shop aims to promote democracy and push back against rising authoritarianism around the world. But many countries obviously upset at not getting an RSVP don't buy what the US president is trying to sell.
What America really intends, those absent from the event think, is to form a club of Western-aligned democracies along with some fledgling ones elsewhere that the US wants to have on its side to counter China and Russia.
In the lead-up to the event, Biden administration officials brushed off these concerns, arguing that "no democracy, including the United States, is perfect." Yet, having a single country arbitrarily decide who’s democratic is hardly democratic at all.
Who’s in and who’s out seems to align more with America’s geopolitical interests than anything else. For instance, the US didn’t invite Turkey, a NATO ally, because President Recep Tayyip Erdogan certainly has an authoritarian streak. But he still needs to win elections to stay in power. The bigger issue is that Erdogan and Biden rarely see eye-to-eye on anything, and the Turkish leader is on good terms with bad boys Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
The guestlist also shows that Biden is wooing US-China straddlers. One of those is the Philippines, a reliable US ally until President Rodrigo Duterte embraced China. Once the term-limited Duterte is out of office next year, Biden wants to make sure whoever succeeds him — likely the son of the country's late dictator — will be cozy with Uncle Sam.
Finally, uninvited nations probably think Biden should get his own house in order before teaching any democracy lessons. After all, just 11 months ago rioters attacked the US Capitol to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Since then, many Republican-led states have passed election security laws that Democrats say restrict voting rights for minorities. And both parties have gerrymandered congressional districts to secure easy wins and make races less competitive overall.
If Biden wants to make this about Us vs Them, don’t be surprised if many of the countries he’s ignored turn on America. I’m not democratic enough for you? Fine. Maybe that's not such a big deal, and China and Russia will have my back.The Graphic Truth: Are you democratic enough for Joe Biden?
The Summit for Democracy, which the Biden administration has been playing up for months, kicks off Thursday. The invite-only event with representatives from 110 countries is Biden’s baby: it’s a chance for the US president to “rescue” democracy, which is in global decline. What’s less clear, however, is why some states with poor democratic records have a seat at the table, while others with better democratic bona fides don’t. Is this a real stab at strengthening democracy, or rather a naked attempt to alienate those who cozy up to foes like China and Russia? We take a look at a selection of invitees, as well as some who didn’t make the cut, and their respective democracy ratings based on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.