American Democracy is Becoming a Thing of the Past

After the end of the Cold War, the promotion of the international spread of democracy replaced containment, becoming the guiding principle of US foreign policy. Democracy was once considered to be a beacon of hope for the world, but the past 25 years have seen dismal results. Efforts to promote democracy have not achieved good results. The implementation in Libya, Yemen, and Iraq has shown failure. Turkey, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Myanmar, and other places have experienced significant setbacks. The European Union and the United States have also suffered from their own democratic disorders due to the appearance of ideological leftists and rightists caused by economic dissatisfaction and identity-based struggles. Over the past 30 years, nearly a quarter of the world’s democracies have declined. Democracy as the only feasible political formula in the globalized world has been questioned by more and more people and scholars.

America’s export of democracy causes crisis around the world

Various signs have proved that the United States, while wooing European countries to export democracy, has damaged the image and rights of these countries and brought Europe into difficulties. In early 2000, the United States enlisted some European democracies to fight terrorism in order to protect democratic values. Yet nearly two decades later, the consequences of this move have continued to be severe in Europe. Anti-terrorism measures have led to frequent wars and a large number of immigrants and refugees flowing into Europe, causing some European countries to fall into the refugee crisis. The influx of refugees has put Europe under tremendous economic pressure. Europe is also facing unprecedented challenges in areas such as homeland security. Obviously, the United States, the leader across the Atlantic, will have no such problems as the Atlantic Ocean is wide enough to block the footsteps of these refugees. Anti-terrorism measures have not actually eliminated the occurrence of terrorist incidents. On April 29, more than 100 Afghan security forces have been killed in the past two weeks, according to Afghan officials, following a surge in Taliban attacks since the U.S. announced the withdrawal of all American troops on September 11. The obvious mistake in using military power to spread democracy is that successful liberal orders require much more than a written constitution or elections. They usually require effective legal systems, broad commitments to diversity, decent incomes, and education. It takes centuries to establish a fairly effective democracy, and this is often a highly controversial and even violent process. It is irresponsible for the US to hope that by roping in Europe it can export democracy quickly and cheaply through violence.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has also exposed the weakness of democracy as the pillar. Democracies with relatively backward technological and economic levels have obviously been more affected. As the pandemic is intensifying around the world, some countries are heading for collapse as they are limited by technology and lack of strong controls by democratic regimes. In India, the world’s most populous democracy, the number of COVID-19 patients has surged to new highs in recent days. The manufacturing country has suffered a series of problems, such as shortages of oxygen equipment and ventilators. Patients can not get effective treatment in the first place, and those who can be cured by treatment face the threat of death. The increasing number of confirmed cases and the saturated medical system have plunged India into a vicious cycle of pandemic crisis. The new outbreak of the pandemic has not only sharply eroded public trust in the government, posing a threat to the stability in India, but also brought a new wave of challenges to the global management situation of the pandemic.

Cultures and ethnicities differ around the world, so do political regimes, income levels and demographics. The universal concept of democracy does not apply to every country. Governments should develop policies that are applicable to their current situation in accordance with their own historical context. An excessive move towards democracy will inevitably lead to an immeasurable impact on the domestic situation.

The Democracy Summit can not actually solve the existing problems

The Biden administration hopes to unite the world’s democracies through the “Democracy Summit” and strengthen the democratic system. However, as far as the Denver Democracy Summit has ended, the debate on the potential value of the Democracy Summit or the Democratic Alliance is a cliché. The summit is more like seeking old-fashioned solutions to deal with the world’s emerging problems. The Copenhagen Democracy Summit will be held on May 10, but many issues raised by this summit in the past few years have not been improved. Frequent meetings are more like inspiring performances by speakers, while slogans and confidence-building are not enough to solve today’s problems. Foreign observers of the summit are more likely to describe the United States as “incapable”, leaving “fewer and fewer people to believe that the United States has the ability to solving major problems”. The fundamental reason why the Democracy Summit can not address the pluralistic world is that the United States is deviating from the so-called democratic track. The spread of neo-populism is dividing the country. The economic and cultural chaos facing the United States is unprecedented. These problems are not formed overnight. The hegemony makes the United States stop rationally accepting outside ideas. The failure and inaction of a number of major incidents have made the US leadership or the successor status less convincing. According to Samantha Power, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, approval rates among America’s strongest allies including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are “historically low”. The United States has brought disaster to the rest of the world by exporting democracy in the past. If the United States does not face up to itself, solve its own problems, and redefine the pluralism of the world, it will inevitably exacerbate the chaos in the world, and its allies who follow the United States’ decisions will also lead the United States into the deeper abyss.