The missing pieces in Biden’s democracy dialogue

President Joe Biden deserves credit for his leadership in the Russia-Ukraine war. He has led a strong and unified international response since Vladimir Putin’s forces launched their invasion and provided billions of dollars in critical military assistance to Ukraine while keeping American soldiers out of the conflict. 

One cannot understate the importance of the U.S. countering Russian aggression that is directed at a democratic, sovereign state. If America wavers in its defense of Ukraine, Putin would be emboldened to continue his expansionism, perhaps into NATO territory, heightening the risk of a direct conflict between the U.S. and Russia. 

That said, the Russia-Ukraine war is just one piece — albeit, a central piece — of a much larger global struggle between democratic and autocratic powers. While Biden’s rhetoric and actions with respect to this central conflict have met the moment, he is lacking a broader advocacy of freedom and liberty around the world and a recognition of the growing consolidation of autocratic forces globally. 

Driven by their shared quest for a global “redistribution of power,” Russia and China have formed an alliance of autocracies, so to speak, along with Iran. At the center of this alliance is a desire to dismantle the U.S.-led world order and a mutual rejection of human rights, freedom and democracy. 

Under the weight of Western sanctions, Iran and Russia are forging closer economic and military ties, as evidenced by the Russian deputy prime minister’s visit to Tehran this week to discuss energy diplomacy.  

Further, Iran, which is continuing to pursue the development of nuclear weapons, has supplied Russia with thousands of drones to use against Ukraine, while Russia is reportedly sending advanced SU-35 fighter jets to Iran, posing a direct threat to Israel and other American allies in the region. 

China has also strengthened diplomatic ties with Russia in recent months. In February, Beijing released a “peace plan” for the war in Ukraine that echoed the Kremlin’s talking points, and China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, recently claimed during an interview that “ex-Soviet countries do not have effective status in international law.”  

Likewise, there is evidence that Chinese components have been present in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, in addition to the 1,000 assault rifles and body armor Beijing has sent. This would indicate that China, which continues to buy cheap Russian energy, is sending military equipment to Ukraine, despite its government denying doing so.  

Additionally, in March, China brokered a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, ending a 7-year dispute and bringing the two rival states together in what was seen as a rebuke of the U.S. 

While Biden has more or less articulated individual responses to the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s economic manipulation and Iran’s enrichment of nuclear weapons, he has thus far failed to offer a coherent approach to confronting this “axis of evil” comprised of all three nations.

Not only are the world’s most powerful autocracies aligning with one another — they are also forging ties with weaker countries in Latin America, contributing to an anti-democracy movement that is taking place right in the U.S.’s backyard.  

In Latin America, China and Russia have used their economic preeminence to further their own geopolitical goals of bolstering authoritarian regimes. China has made inroads in Brazil, Venezuela and Nicaragua, while Russia has a strong presence in Venezuela and Cuba. This has coincided with a destabilization of democracy in each Latin American nation, none of which has held a truly free or fair election in years. 

Regrettably, Biden’s only visible efforts on this issue were hosting the “Summit of the Americas” last year, which sparked an outcry over the exclusions of major players in the region — Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and which some considered more of an embarrassment for the administration than a substantive conference. 

This event was just as ineffective as the “Summit for Democracy” Biden hosted earlier this year, which was anything but a summit of democratic nations, and, arguably, produced no meaningful results. Among the invited guests were Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte — who has been accused of organizing a “reign of terror and mass murder” — as well as the leaders of Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan. 

More recently, the Biden administration has been notably silent as democracy was being tested in two geopolitically vital countries that are considered “not free” by the Freedom House: Turkey and Thailand. In each, Biden has neglected to offer encouragement to the pro-democracy candidates, leaving the international community unsure of where America stands.  

In Turkey — a NATO ally, though one that is more often than not a thorn in America’s side — opposition parties united behind Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the hopes of unseating President Recep Erdogan, who has cracked down on the free press, arbitrarily detained thousands of innocent people and reoriented Turkey away from the West and toward Russia and China. 

With neither Kilicdaroglu nor Erdogan able to win 50 percent of the vote, the election will head to a runoff on May 28. Erdogan is expected to survive the toughest challenge of his political career, allowing him to preserve his autocratic control over an increasingly undemocratic NATO nation.

In Thailand, the progressive Move Forward Party won the most seats in that country’s parliament in the country’s recent election, delivering what has been described as an “unmistakable frontal rebuke of Thailand’s military authoritarian past.”  

Despite winning an electoral landslide, which the Biden administration should have remarked on, the Move Forward Party has no clear path to forming a government due to the junta-era constitution, which gives the military immense power over virtually all aspects of the government.

This is a truly global struggle and it necessitates a comprehensive strategy by the U.S. Yet, the Biden administration has relied on piecemeal solutions as problems arise, as opposed to proactive measures which would strengthen democratic forces around the world and effectively counter the growing rise of autocratic forces that are united by their desire to upend the U.S.-led world order.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an advisor to President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. His new book is: “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”