So why is authoritarianism on the rise? The propagandists share resourcesthe troll farms that promote one dictator's propaganda can also be used to promote the propaganda of anotherand themes, pounding homethe same messages about the weakness of democracyand the evil of America. There are plenty of medicines that would cure it. Parliament temporarily gave him the power to rule by decree. Thats exactly the narrative the Kremlin wants to tell. The greater the Chinese economic might, the greater it can use its currency to buy friends and influence people around the world to utilize its technologies, like Huawei, by heavily subsidizing those technologies. Corruption is growing. I was very proud to see Joe Biden stand up to Vladimir Putin. When youre facing off against an authoritarian political movement, each election is an existential threat to democracy. Turkey was once a haven for Chinas persecuted Uyghur population. It was what our intelligence professionals were telling us. After all, America has much more robust democratic institutions than Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, or Turkey. Read: UN secretary-general: American power is in decline, the world is in pieces. It kind of brings it back to Congress and bipartisanship. The first is that Russia wasnt deterred from all of the reaction to its interference in 2016. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, John, thank you very much. So really appreciate you touching on a number of these issues with us at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And this person asks well, starts off by noting that there has been some concern that congressional committees and members have politicized intelligence on a range of issues. But I am hopeful going forward that now that we are in a different position, where were not dealing with a president who is affirmatively trying to exploit and politicize the work of the intelligence community, that we can restore some level of comity. Some of it we saw with COVID-19. And so China is not in a good position to be arguing that its method of dealing with the virus is the best. Sanctions arent a particularly useful remedy with North Korea because theyre already so heavily sanctioned. Many of the countries that have dealt best with the virus are democracies. And how do we work with our partners to protect American democracy more broadly overseas? As uncomfortable a topic as it may be for China and as distasteful as it is for Russia, Im, you know, proud to see our representatives going toe to toe. My studies and experiences have taught me that democracies can die in many ways. So they had a very big stake in the outcome of our election and they pushed out this Kremlin-originated smear against Joe Biden. When Trump won office, I pushed back against forecasts that democracy in the U.S. was doomed, she explained. How do you draw the line of what we should and what we shouldnt do in and around, even inside of China and Russia? Autocracies pose a particular threat to gender equity and the rights of historically marginalized people, including women and LGBTQ+ people. Layla Quran, National Affairs In some cases, collaboration between authoritarians has put entire ethnic groups at risk. That misreading is provoking an underreaction from the political establishment. The first is to reform the GOP, so that its again a conservative, but not authoritarian, party ( la John McCains or Mitt Romneys Republican Party). But for those who had watched Trump-like authoritarian strongmen rise in Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Venezuela, Trump was never entertaining. So you may remember when the former president was pushing out the false narrative that he had been the subject of wiretapping at Trump Tower. While debates raged over tax cuts and offensive tweets, the biggest story was often obscured: The system itself was at risk. But many of the new powers don't expire or have anything to do with COVID. Consequently, there are two main ways to protect American democracy. It was America first and everybody else be damned and as if we could isolate our own security from the need to work with others. Now, I dont know that China had a plan to do so. I think the intel-to-intel relationships have remained strong, but nonetheless we have some rebuilding to do. Washington, DC 20036, Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy, Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet, From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression, Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism, Emergency Assistance and Thematic Programs, Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. And so rebuilding that trust is going to be important. By early 2021, Trump had gone too far and there had been a national calamity. An open letter from 500 former world leaders and Nobel laureates warned, COVID-19 increased global authoritarianism that threatens the future of liberal democracy. I want to underscore in every way that I can that I want the intelligence analysts and others to report to us exactly what their best assessments are, whether they think we want to hear it or they dont. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march, writes The Washington Post: Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege. Yes, and there are reasons for this. Now, people are braving the pandemic to do it nonetheless, and as more people are vaccinated theyll probably feel more freedom to organize and associate to try to stand down some of these face down some of these autocratic regimes. At the same time, you know, I think the administration quite correctly recognizes, as our adversaries do, that there are still some areas of common interest. We successfully defended our country. No key political figures who tried to overturn an American election have faced real accountability. Thus Yeltsin calling in an artillery strike on the Russian legislature was "democratic," but Poland's social conservatives winning an outright majority in the recent election is "authoritarian." When democracies start to die, they usually dont recover. As Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine rages on, authoritarianism is surging. Theres a question here that builds on your comments on Chinese technology. Democracies cant depend on one of two major parties never holding power, argues Brendan Nyhan, a government professor at Dartmouth College and a co-founder of Bright Line Watch, a group that monitors the erosion of American democracy. But I wanted to go to a slightly broader issue. You have known many of the players. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. And the worst may be yet to come. And so I think the administration is off to a very good start rebuilding those relationships. If we cant achieve that consensus, then foreign powers will continue to be able to manipulate us and our elections. Instead, they end up as authoritarian states with zombified democratic institutions: rigged elections in place of legitimate ones, corrupt courts rather than independent judges, and propagandists replacing the press. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march, writes The Washington Post: Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege. Yes, and there are reasons for this. On why nationalism and authoritarianism is spreading globally: The first was the excess of globalization, the excess of capitalism, and the creation of exploding inequality happening at the same time that globalization is kind of encroaching on people's national identity or tribal identity In Russia, during a World War II commemoration parade, police shoved protesters into vans, thanks to a new measure against public assembly. No major prodemocracy reforms have passed Congress. But Im wondering if you could unpack that a little bit more. And it brought home, I think, a fundamental truth, which is when we strengthen our own democracy, we strengthen the very idea of democracy around the world. Im the president of CSIS. Let me turn to you for your prepared remarks, and then Seth Jones will engage with you in a question and answer period. It needs to be a priority in our diplomatic discussions. Of the 47 nations elected to the UN Human Rights Council for 2022, 15 are rated Free, 18 are rated Partly Free, and 14 are rated Not Free in. He would go too far, or there would be a national calamity, and wed all come to our democratic senses. And if the answer is no, and the answers certainly in a 5G context appear to be no now, there may be some workarounds, and obviously were looking at those workarounds. Now, when it comes to the Russians, you know, as long as they feel they have a sufficient incentive to do so, theyll continue to hack and meddle and sow discord on social media. But in Putins worldview, there are no democrats; there are only autocrats and hypocrites. Beyond Putins Russia, authoritarian regimes are on the rise globallya worrying trend that could roll back decades of democratic gains and human rights achievements worldwide. That, to me, would be a deterrent for the North Koreans. All Rights Reserved. During the Donald Trump presidency, the news covered a relentless barrage of unprecedented attacks on the norms and institutions of American democracy. Thats certainly what I try to do. Ive shaken hands with many of the worlds democracy killers. My names John Hamre. Eventually, the authoritarian party will win. All Rights Reserved. It continued through an aggressive social media campaign, overt media campaign, to try to influence events in our election, and more than that, it used one different vector. In Poland, President Andrzej Duda pushed through and won a recent election, despite E.U. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, I think the threat is extraordinarily grave. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. Please check your inbox to confirm. Hes been a champion throughout his career for upholding and strengthening democracy and rule of law. Youll never want to be able to youll never want to show all the proof that you have, because then that will help the adversary evade you the next time or evade attribution the next time. As it would turn out, though, it had another salutary effect which I didnt contemplate at the time we were including this in the intelligence bill. Chinas a rising power, and already an extraordinary power. And you know, it, I think, has long been the case that the Russians dont make many bones about being a democracy anymore. Seth G. Jones: And it is interesting to note the U.S. participated, for example, in a covert program to provide assistance to Solidarity in the 1980s, which has recently become declassified. I. As Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell denounced Trump on the Senate floor, it looked like Republicans might follow the South Korean path and America could finally take its medicine. And one of the things that is apparent when you read the assessment is that several agency heads, including former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, his predecessor Ric Grenell, National Security Adviser OBrien, and others were not candid with the country. Worse, the outlook for the human rights condition in authoritarian regimes is even bleaker. Governments are becoming less transparent and have lost the trust of the people. ", Anne Applebaum, welcome back to the "NewsHour.". The leaders of China, Russia, and other dictatorships have succeeded in challenging the consensus that democracy is the only viable path to prosperity and security, while encouraging authoritarian approaches to governance. The rise of American authoritarianism is transforming the Republican Party and the dynamics of national politics, with profound consequences likely to extend well beyond this election. But authoritarianism has taken root among many conservatives across the world. Vladimir Putin won a referendum that extends his power until 2036. Authoritarians in every region are working together to consolidate power and accelerate their attacks on democracy and human rights, according to Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. Corruption is growing. She was previously a foreign affairs reporter and producer. In all three cases, a political shock acted as a wake-up call, in which the would-be autocrat was removed and their political movement either destroyed or reformed. Do you fear that that argument could be accepted by people around the world? Thats why most American pundits and journalists used an outsider comes to Washington framework to process Trumps campaign and his presidency, when they should have been fitting every fresh fact into an authoritarian populist framework or a democratic death spiral framework. And were going to explore that today because authoritarianism is on in the rise. Authoritarian regimes in China, Russia, and elsewhere have gained greater power in the international system, and freer countries have seen their established democratic norms challenged and fractured. Well, that effort hasnt stopped. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long called Index a fake news factory. Governments are becoming less transparent and have lost the trust of the people. This is why its vital to be open about whats happening to raise the specter of authoritarianism. The book is "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.". Despite E.U many conservatives across the world is in pieces Affairs in some cases, collaboration between has... Cases, collaboration between authoritarians has put entire ethnic groups at risk be arguing its! My Studies and experiences have taught me that democracies can die in many ways misreading is an... 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