Populism is a serious threat to liberal democracy. And yet, the foreign policy establishment has barely begun to think through the implications, or to change how it does business.
This paper by @shashj for @instituteGC starts to remedy this problem.
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institute.global/insight/renewi…
This paper by @shashj for @instituteGC starts to remedy this problem.
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institute.global/insight/renewi…
It identifies six distinct challenges to liberal democracy:
* Military risks
* Coercive threats
* Authoritarian soft power
* Disruption through propaganda and cyberattacks
* Spread of authoritarian norms
* Effect of democratic backsliding on the west's cohesion.
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* Military risks
* Coercive threats
* Authoritarian soft power
* Disruption through propaganda and cyberattacks
* Spread of authoritarian norms
* Effect of democratic backsliding on the west's cohesion.
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To respond, democracies need to engage in three ambitious responses.
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First, democracies need to boost domestic resilience by:
* Radical political and economic reforms
* Protecting core components of electoral competition
* Addressing political vulnerabilities created by economic openness
* Civic education and countering disinformation
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* Radical political and economic reforms
* Protecting core components of electoral competition
* Addressing political vulnerabilities created by economic openness
* Civic education and countering disinformation
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Second, liberal democracies need to renew their alliances by:
* Rekindling U.S.-European ties
* Be open to smaller, more flexible coalitions
* Challenge backsliding in Western democracies like Poland and Hungary.
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* Rekindling U.S.-European ties
* Be open to smaller, more flexible coalitions
* Challenge backsliding in Western democracies like Poland and Hungary.
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That last point is particularly important:
“Democratic alliances are of little use if illiberal forces erode them from within. In the EU, leaders should isolate backsliding governments by suspending their voting rights & withdrawing support for them in European institutions”
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“Democratic alliances are of little use if illiberal forces erode them from within. In the EU, leaders should isolate backsliding governments by suspending their voting rights & withdrawing support for them in European institutions”
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Third, liberal democracies must shape international norms by:
* Renewing their commitment to a global presence & spending more on supporting democracy
* Shaping the work of international institutions
* Engaging democracies beyond the West like India, Brazil, Mexico.
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* Renewing their commitment to a global presence & spending more on supporting democracy
* Shaping the work of international institutions
* Engaging democracies beyond the West like India, Brazil, Mexico.
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This report is not the end of a serious conversation about the changes in foreign policy we need to protect liberal democracies at home and abroad. It’s but a beginning.
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But it *is* an important antidote to the depressing failure of foreign policy establishments in the U.S. and throughout Europe to recognize that this new, scary world of ours requires a wholesale recommitment to protecting liberal democracy.
So please circulate it widely.
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So please circulate it widely.
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And while you're at it, read some of the other great papers my team at @InstituteGC has recently published, including:
@martineiermann, @gultchin and yours truly on European populism:
institute.global/index.php/insi…
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@martineiermann, @gultchin and yours truly on European populism:
institute.global/index.php/insi…
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