Biden’s Summit For Democracy Mustn’t Just Be Blah Blah Blah
Democracy is in decline across the world. But what can the U.S. president actually do about that?
Can he rally the world’s democracies?
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Blah, blah, blah. That’s how Swedish activist Greta Thunberg castigated world leaders at the recent United Nations climate summit in Glasgow for yapping without acting. If her cause were freedom instead of the environment, she might hurl the same taunt at leaders virtually attending the first “summit for democracy” in Washington, DC, on Dec. 9-10.
The host is Joe Biden, president of the U.S. and putative leader of the free world. The guests will log in from about 110 countries Biden considers sufficiently democratic to qualify. His criteria have caused quite some controversy. China, which is obviously not invited, is furious about the participation of Taiwan, which the U.S. doesn’t even recognize as a country.