this is gps, the global public square. welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i m fareed zakaria coming to you live from new york. today on the program president biden finished a round of meetings with world leaders in japan as the debt ceiling drama continues back home in washington. we ll talk about all that plus ukraine s coming counter offensive and much more with the smart panel just back from kyiv. also, pakistan is on edge after its former prime minister imran khan was arrested and released last week. now he fears for his life, and he will join me for his side of the story. but first, here s my take. many of us had high hopes f turkey s general election believing that a flat-out victory for the opposition could mark a break with the worldwide trend toward in-liberal democracy, but perhaps we were all misguided and seduced by the lure of free elections and trusting ultimately in the will of the people. in fact, what happened in turkey
victory for the opposition could mark a break with the worldwide trend toward in-liberal democracy, but perhaps we were all misguided and seduced by the lure of free elections and trusting ultimately in the will of the people. in fact, what happened in turkey last week highlights the latest and most disturbing trend in the rise of liberal democracy. while incumbent recep thayyip erdogan did not win reelection results, he did better than the polls predicted and came out well ahead of his main opponent leaving him highly likely to win in the runoff scheduled for may 28th. this is stunning given that turkey is a country in economic catastrophe with sky-high inflation, and the vote also took place months after an earthquake in which the government performed miserably. consider, though, the backdrop to these elections and erdogan was up against kamal, the