My Take | How to fight for democracy – at home
- In a unipolar world, the hegemon and its allies must denigrate ‘non-interference’ as a diplomatic doctrine so as to be free to impose its interests and values on others as universally applicable. In a multipolar system, countries will have to learn to refrain from interfering in each other’s affairs to avoid conflicts and keep the peace
Everyone and their dog seems to fret about democracy being under threat these days. Even Sting interrupted his concert in Warsaw to warn against the danger and rallied his fans by shouting democracy is worth fighting for.
By all means, your country is worth fighting for. Your home and family are worth fighting for. And if your home country also happens to be a democracy, well yes, your system of government is worth fighting for. That means working hard to address problems at home, of which there are legions, rather than looking for monsters aboard to slay. Take care of your own democracy and repair its defects, and Democracy with the capital D will take care of itself around the world.
The real global threat to Democracy is posed by the failing politicians, populist ideologues and corrupt charlatans in your own country, not foreign autocrats living somewhere else. They don’t plot to undermine your government and society; it’s almost always the other way round.
Somehow, though, I don’t think that was what Sting and many Western political leaders meant by fighting for democracy. I think they mean fighting other people who are not like them. It means fighting Russia and China, and any number of authoritarian states, unless they happen to be friendly with your democratic government and its allies; in which case, maybe you shouldn’t fight or criticise them. Sting was clear about that when he, like many others, denounced the Russian attack on Ukraine as “an absurdity based upon a lie”. Actually, I think Putin has been brutally – and criminally – truthful and honest about what he wants.
Like Sting, as United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei, she said her controversial visit was to defend freedom and democracy everywhere, not just Taiwan’s. In a bygone era, someone in her position might have said it was to defend Christendom against the heathens.
Non-interference
Somehow, I don’t think fighting for your beliefs means you have to fight me just because I don’t share them. Call me a simpleton, but as a Chinese I have always taken this as what Beijing means by “non-interference”. It may be hypocritical when China does sometimes try to influence another country’s government policy or course of action. It may also be self-serving to try to pre-empt other countries or critics from pointing out its wrongdoings or errors. But as a diplomatic stance on global affairs, it finds resonance in many countries outside the West.
The Chinese one-party state model has not gained much traction in other countries. But Beijing is OK with that. It actually spends more time promoting its economic development model and reliance on heavy state-directed investments in technology, and physical and digital infrastructure. Its ideology is mostly about technology rather than its political system, at least insofar as its foreign relations are concerned.