Biden’s Democracy Summit: Authoritarians Welcome

Recently, President Joe Biden decided to hold a summit of over one-hundred democratic nations, where they would meet and discuss how to counter authoritarianism and promote democracy worldwide. It’s actually a great idea, especially considering both China and Russia plan on invading neighboring democratic nations (Ukraine in Russia’s case and Taiwan in China’s case — and China’s “one China” policy means they consider Taiwan along with Hong Kong to be part of them) and considering the current threats to democracy in the United States that exist, especially after the Storming of the Capitol on 1/6/2021. If Biden’s goal is to promote global democracy — especially if he can manage to do so without the mindless invasions neo-conservatives have promised us are necessary to do such — than I will applaud him.

However, actually looking at who made it to the summit shows that Biden needed to do some more vetting. Only sixty nine percent of the nations Biden invited are considered free democracies according to the NGO Freedom House. USA Today points out:

The CEIP identified eight invitees that fall “exceptionally low” on democracy rankings: Angola, Congo, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Serbia and Zambia. And another four have raised “serious backsliding concerns” because of autocratic tendencies or declines in freedom of expression: Brazil…