The Biden administration created crises in Israel and Ukraine helped line the pockets of US contractors, however, the world has recognized the destructive power of such policies which is why US global leadership is in decline.
March 26, 2021 last updated 15:12 ET A woman kneels in front of a riot police line as they block a rally of Belarusian opposition supporters in the center of Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 30, 2020 (AP photo).
Democracy Is Down, but Not Out
A raging pandemic, an absent America and an emboldened China have exacerbated an ongoing global democratic recession. That is the message of “Freedom in the World 2021,” Freedom House’s latest status report on the fortunes of democracy. During 2020, democracy retreated for the 15th consecutive year, deteriorating in 73 countries and improving in only 28 a record margin according to Freedom House, which has been tracking these trends for more than 40 years. Reversing this decline will require established democracies to play both defense and offense, bolstering democracy where it is under siege and challenging the anti-democratic message of the world’s authoritarian powers.
April 2, 2021 last updated 16:22 ET U.S. President George H. W. Bush, front row center, is seen posing with other heads of state at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 13, 1992 (AP photo).
It’s Long Past Time for the U.S. to Ratify the ‘Treaty of Life’
Nearly three decades after it emerged from the landmark “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, the Convention on Biological Diversity has been ratified by 196 countries; the United States is the sole remaining holdout. This failure of global leadership is unconscionable and self-defeating, given continued, catastrophic declines in biodiversity that could see roughly 1 million species disappear in the coming decades. America must finally become party to this “Treaty of Life.”
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Matt Slocum/The Associated Press
Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, summed up part of the Western world’s feelings about this week’s inauguration of Joe Biden as U.S. president in the language of diplomats. The new administration will be more predictable, she said in a television interview this weekend, and there will be more “policy alignment” with Canada.