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In February 2022, representatives from governments and civil society across the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC)’s fifty member countries gathered as an informal alliance of governments working cooperatively to support media freedom globally. Miriam Küller in Deutsche Welle (DW) considers ways to make its work more effective. Media freedom has drawn increasing attention in recent years, … Continued
Joseph Sany considers the recent coup attempt in Guinea-Bisseau, the fifth in nine months around the greater Sahel, and its implications for US assistance in Africa. Poor and authoritarian governance only continues to worsen instability and extremism in the region. Pro-democracy and peacebuilding specialists are crucial, and recommendations are made by experts in relation to … Continued
Richard E. Feinberg considers for Global Americans how the initiatives spearheaded by the Summit may impact governance and democracy in Latin America in view of the Biden administration’s wider foreign policy approach to the region. He notes that a main challenge to development and assistance is the fragmented state of politics both domestically in the … Continued
Lauren Mooney writes in Just Security about how Biden’s Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal can better account for conflict and fragility in certain states. Major complex challenges for democracy assistance in fragile states include violence, an underlying lack of public trust in governance institutions, and deep societal divides. The US’ approach to democracy assistance in … Continued
Jamie Shea for Friends of Europe considers democratic prospects for the Year of Action throughout 2022 in the leadup to the follow-up Summit in December 2022. He emphasised the importance making commitments public and channelling this transparency towards useful civil society oversight in monitoring commitments and pressuring governments to uphold said commitments. Promising areas of … Continued
Witney Schneidman considers the future for American support and investments in Africa. During his electoral campaign, President Biden made bold statements rooted in cooperation and democracy. The US Secretary of State, Senator Anthony Blinken, stated that infrastructure projects would build upon democratic principles, echoing the main themes of the Summit. Schneidman considers the broader context … Continued
Mehmet Ozay considers the implications of the invitee list in the Asia-Pacific. Notably left off the list were Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, considered de facto allies of the United States and important for its interests in the region, while Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were invited. This division has led many in the region to … Continued
Mimaki Seiko considers the approach taken by the Biden Administration in terms of how well the Summit’s stated goals and invited countries accord with each other. Seiko contends that the Summit failed to demonstrate unity among democracies in the face of rising autocracy and increasing Chinese influence. These issues are attributed to two factors: unclear … Continued
Tom Keatinge considers for the Royal United Services Institute how the tone for anti-corruption set by Biden at the Summit may impact upon reforming the laws which have enabled pervasive dirty money in the UK. Read the full piece here at RUSI.
Kemal Derviş in the Brookings Institution considers how autocrats may use democratic narratives regarding elections to justify their rule, while simultaneously delegitimising other democratic principles such as checks and balances and the separation of powers. There is a significant difference between non-democracies in which open, contestable elections do not exist, and those in which opposition … Continued
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