Interview: Global democracy is cracking, but young people might just save it - McCain Institute
Democracy is at a tipping point globally as authoritarian leaders have firmed up their campaigns with the help of social media and artificial intelligence to become more persuasive and powerful.
On Global South Conversations, Ismail Akwei spoke with Scott Nemeth, Head of Global Leadership at the McCain Institute, who acknowledged fractures in the democratic process but was optimistic that with a united front, democracy will always win.
“It kind of seems like it's a global phenomenon where no region is immune to the turmoil that is happening. And people are really starting to question democracy, and in a way, they're redefining it. Here in the United States, you have democracy being associated more with tendencies that reduce freedom, that reduce free speech, but it's under the guise of democracy. And so I think we are at a turning point,” Scott Nemeth explained.
“We are at an inflexion point, but I don't think it's all doom and gloom because there are many folks around the world who see the value of democracy, who see the value of being able to choose your leadership. To be able to choose the way that you live your life and not have it dictated to you. And I think at the end of the day, it's gonna be a messy process, but we'll eventually get to a point where democracy prevails,” he added.
He called on democratic institutions and leaders to be united and defeat authoritarianism, especially with the rise of social media and Artificial Intelligence, which have given non-democratic alliances an upper hand.
“The authoritarians are working together at a time when democracies are not working together. And so when you compound that with the rise of technology, AI, social media, we're in a position where the authoritarians have the upper hand and they have kind of the momentum behind them.
“I think that over the next couple of years, the imperative is going to be on democratic allies to work together and not to silo themselves because with a united front, democracy is always going to win. But if there are fractures in that united front, you're going to see the authoritarians moving up,” he explained.
Scott Nemeth further indicated the influence of Russia and China over other countries and how they empower authoritarians in other parts of the world to break democratic practices.
“In the last couple of years, Putin's ability to go into Ukraine without much consequence, the influence that Russia has had in the Middle East, China's influence in Africa, that's really been kind of unmatched by democracies and democratic alliances. This has empowered those authoritarians in Tunisia, in Nicaragua, in Myanmar to be able to go and hold power because they see the support coming from global powers like Russia and China,” he said.
“We could be at a point where, in the next decade, we would see a lot more authoritarianism and a lot less democracy. But it's going to be up to this next generation to have their voice heard and make that decision of how involved they want to be,” he concluded.
Watch the full interview attached to this story.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
