Forum: global perspectives on democracy support in light of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekaf003

This forum critically reflects on the democracy support agenda and its future in light of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the decline of Western political and normative dominance, and overall global democratic backsliding. Posing four topical questions to five leading scholars in the field-from Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia-it finds that these wars appear systemic in the sense that they sharpen already existing crises in world order. They have evidenced a structural weakness in the international liberal order (ILO): the West's selective adherence to and application of key principles of this order, effectively undermining Western credibility, influence, and its capacity to maintain the ILO and to promote democracy globally. They have also intensified practices of competitive norms promotion at the global level, with Russian norms promotion in particular scoring some successes in South America, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. This is taking place to the backdrop of multipolarity, which has led to greater strategic autonomy for states outside of the West, including in their responses to democracy promotion attempts. Taken together, these phenomena have allowed autocratic tendencies to gain strength globally, from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia to Europe and the Americas. At the same time, democracy is also becoming more locally and regionally driven and diverse and might thus possibly become more resilient. In this new world in the making, Western democracy supporters will need to become mindful of the historical legacies of colonialism, their own internal problems with democracy, and stark normative inconsistencies of their policies-if the agenda should be kept. They will need to respect the unique historical and cultural contexts that have shaped democracies around the world and become more humble, inclusive, and dialogic with non-Western democratic middle powers such as South Africa and Brazil.