Summit for Democracy

Theme:

• On December 9-10, 2021, Joe Biden, the president of the United States held a virtual summit on democracy to renew democracy at home and abroad.

Points to speak:

• United States President Joe Biden has invited 110 nations for the ‘Summit for Democracy’.
• The discussion in the virtual summit was on defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption and promoting human rights.
• Several countries are witnessing the deterioration of democracy. So, the summit is conducted at the right time. It created a platform to discuss and learn from each other.
• Climate change, the impact of COVID-19, rising economic inequality were also discussed.
• Some tech companies are now as powerful as governments. So, Digital authoritarianism is also discussed. A few governments are misusing tech companies for mass surveillance programs.
• The United States held this summit to reclaim its status in international politics.
• The summit attracted criticism on the invitees’ list because the US did not invite several countries including Singapore, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Russia, China and several African nations. 195 countries are recognized by United Nations. Among them, only 110 countries are invited.
• It was also criticized for inviting a few countries that do not qualify. For example, the Philippines is being probed by International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. But it was invited to the summit.
• Only a few countries admitted the shortcomings in their own democracies. But the remaining countries including the United States, which conducted the summit did not discuss their own flaws.

Conclusion:

Discussions on democracy help countries in detecting their own flaws and learn from each other. But the ‘Summit for Democracy’ attracted criticism for not inviting a few countries. However, ‘Summit for Democracy’ can be stated as the right step to strengthen democracy worldwide. It is very much needed because several countries are witnessing democratic backsliding.

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References:

• Freedom and power: On Biden’s Summit for Democracy

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