US President Joe Biden’s global initiative, the Summit for Democracy, is a two-day affair beginning December 9. He wants the summit of 100-odd countries to commit to opposing authoritarianism and corruption, besides respecting human rights. Aware of its inconsistent democratic record, the United States also proposes to scuttle criticism of the summit by focusing on free media, free and fair elections and strengthening democratic reformers. However, stitched into the summit’s agenda is President Biden’s larger geopolitical objective. The rallying together of over 100 “democracies” is for him to send a message to China on two counts. One, register the summit as a symbolic global opposition to China’s “authoritarianism”. Two, bind the summit behind the United States in a maze of common, “democratic” interests to counter China’s rise. China has already sought to politicise the summit by declaring itself a democracy by saying there is “no fixed model of democracy; it manifests itself in many forms”. It even organised an “International Forum on Democracy” to upstage the American exercise. The fact that China, a one-party country with a rubber stamp Congress, controlled media and devalued human rights, can stolidly claim allegiance to democracy reflects two things. One, that China is bristling because, like Russia, it is excluded from the summit while bete noire Taiwan has received the invite. Two, China is well aware of Biden’s geopolitical narrative behind the summit. Even before the summit begins, a debate is raging on the politics behind the US exclusion/inclusion process while finalising the invitee list.

The US was careful not to publicise any criteria for selecting countries, but the inclusions and exclusions expose the politics. Taiwan’s case, for example, drives the point home. It is a democracy no doubt, but the US does not recognise Taiwan and it is there because China is not. Pakistan, whose human rights record is frequently questioned and its army’s interference in the functioning of the elected Government is well noted, is in. It is being explained that the US considered Pakistan’s inclusion a must because India was invited. In the case of Africa, Latin America and Europe, too, the politics of exclusion prevailed. Having said that, the US got one thing right. Democracy is on the defensive and authoritarianism is on the rise. The summit proposes to rectify the pattern, but its approach is debatable. Focusing on fighting corruption or simply opposing authoritarian traits is not the way; strengthening and defending democracy is. Democracy needs to be defended on its own merits, and not by countering authoritarianism. This is a matter internal to democracy. Democracy is primarily under threat from its own regimes, with civil liberties being devalued, freedoms and rights trampled upon, and dissent quelled. These practices need to be reversed first. The summit would do well to focus more on extracting a commitment from the “democratic” invitees — or help those who are faltering — to re-learn to uphold liberty, open governance, dissent and participation.