The authors write that “China and Russia, which Biden has also singled out for criticism, are not the main causes of the weakening of democracies around the world.” Instead, most “of the backsliding … has been caused by erosion within the world's democracies, including the United States and many of its allies.” Yet, the authors state that “Biden seems to genuinely believe that democrats and dictators are in a do-or-die battle over who will own the 21st century.”

Rather than seeking to spread autocracy, “Putin's overriding priority is self-preservation and the preservation of his regime … Likewise, Xi's main priority is maintaining his control and the Chinese Communist Party's monopoly on power.” According to the authors, Biden’s approach presumes that “all democracies think alike based on their shared commitment to democratic values. If only it were that simple.”

The authors conclude that instead of chasing the “chimerical goal of democratizing the domestic political orders of other countries… the Biden administration ... could collaborate on an ad hoc basis with a small number of like-minded democratic countries that have the skill, will, resources and capacity to make progress on pressing global problems.”

Read the full article at The Washington Post.

Photo by U.S. Department of State shared in the Public Domain.