HE head United States of America, Joe Biden, this wednesday came second summit for democracy organized under the authority of optimistic message already launched this at State of the Union. “Today we can proudly say that world democracies are getting strongerwhile not weakening autocracies weakenThey are not getting stronger,” he said. The moment this virtual encounter takes place is quite more complex. and underline weaknesses a meeting with voluntary commitments and without any mechanism to ensure that democratic standards in participating countries are respected or maintained, lots of skepticism and even insignificant.
One of the most obvious signs of the storms and paradoxes of this summit is the high tension between two unwavering allies, the United States and Israel. Tuesday, Biden He showed himself “Very worried” about judicial reform recommended by the government Benjamin Netanyahu and went so far as to say “they can’t continue on this path”, a message to which the Israeli prime minister responded by rejecting “pressure from best friends”. In any case, the White House continued its invitation to attend the summit, where Netanyahu intervened on Tuesday with a video in which he argued that Israel “continues to be”.strong democracyin the middle of “a very intense public debate”. “Democracy means the will expressed by the majority of the people, and it also means the protection of civil rights, individual rights,” he added.
They are not the only cloud over Biden’s optimistic message. Inside Mexican legal reforms are progressing will undermine electoral control.like any other ally India has been Opposition leader expelled from Parliament And Brazil At the beginning of the year, he experienced an upheaval similar to that of the US Capitol attack.
The usefulness of the summit, which Biden presented as one of his campaign promises during his candidacy, is also questioned. This time Washington tried to rein in the criticisms of the first of 2021. adding to the organization to four countries: South Korea, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia, Moreover they organize events. In this issue, which started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday, 120 countries but there is also discontinuityaspect Hungary And Türkiyetwo NATO members not invited, or Pakistanas in the first refused to participatewith a commonly interpreted gesture try not to upset china.
commitments
For the Biden Administration, however, the summit serves: try to strengthen alliances and project commitment And with democratic developments, the president announced his plans 690 million dollars allocated over the next two years to the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, which he launched at the first summit, then announced that he had just over $400 million. These funds, as the White House explained, support environment free and independent anti-corruptionwith Democratic reformers and human rightswith Technological developments support democracy now free and fair elections.
An announcement was also made in the technological part. Agreement with 10 countries to limit the use of surveillance technologyA deal that comes days after Biden signed an executive order in the US banning US agencies from using “spyware” tools used to track human rights activists, journalists and dissidents.
However, some of the meeting’s critical voices inconsistent Washington politics for example when talking about human rights. And these criticisms Saudi Arabia. Biden promised to make this a “pariah state” after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, but the promise was in vain.
Ukraine
This war started by Russia With the occupation of Ukraine, it became another axis of the summit. Speaking with Biden at the same session this Wednesday, ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelensky, its renewed call to get more guns. and also back rejecting voices proposing a negotiated solution with Vladimir Putin for conflict. “Absolute Let go of the illusion that reconciling with evil can give you some freedom.“, he said. “Democracy must lose its enemies.”