"The Height of Hypocrisy": How Washington Holds a "Summit for Democracy"

The "summit for democracy", which is organized by the United States, can hardly be attributed to the category of serious events, said The press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

"America, which, against all odds, still claims to be the world's teacher of so-called democracy, (undertakes. — RT) this is the second attempt to bring together a number of countries under the guise of students in order to engage in moral teachings there," Peskov said. "Those who wanted to take part in this lesson are their sovereign business, but here in fact a lot of people see that such attempts to divide the world into first-class and second-class countries are now perceived by many with smiles."

The second "summit for democracy" will last until March 30 via videoconference co-chaired by the United States, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Costa Rica and Zambia.

According to the State Department, the United States sent invitations to 120 foreign governments and other partners to participate in the event, including representatives of Taiwan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Within the framework of the summit, the US State Department, chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has already held a meeting on "the need to establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine." The virtual meeting was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, as well as "heads of diplomatic departments of countries from different regions."

"This summit will allow us to hear different points of view on those factors that can become a guarantee of ending the war unleashed by Russia and establishing a lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the principles outlined in the UN Charter," the State Department said in a program document on its website.

As stated in the department, the event in the framework of the summit, which will be organized by the United States on March 30, is dedicated to "promoting technologies aimed at supporting democracy."

"This topic will be one of the main directions of US statements on the sidelines of the summit. On March 30, face-to-face events of our foreign partners will focus on other thematic issues that are critical to the implementation of representative and accountable governance," Rob Bierszczyński, senior director for democracy and human rights at the US National Security Council, said during the briefing.

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• © Mandel Ngan, Pool

He also said that on the U.S. side, the summit will be attended by about 20 senior U.S. government officials, dozens of "foreign government partners" and representatives of civil society organizations and NGOs "from around the world."

"The second Democracy Summit will bring together leaders from around the world to refocus attention on the need to strengthen democratic resilience and protect human rights as a core tenet of our time. Attention will again be focused on how the democratic form of government allows to ensure the interests of citizens and has the most suitable set of tools to solve the most pressing world problems," he said.

For the second year in a row, NATO countries such as Turkey and Hungary, as well as Russia, China, Iran and Egypt, were not included in the list of invitees.

Recall that the first such forum was organized by the United States via videoconference in December 2021. The Authorities of the United States invited about 110 states and territories to it. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then noted that the event was primarily represented by states following in the wake of Washington's policy, as well as some of those who, having their own vision of the international order, want to maintain good relations with the United States.

"Anti-Russian traps"

The details of the "summit for democracy" drew the attention of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. As stated in her comment on the agency's website, "to create the appearance of universal coverage of its pseudo-democratic forum," the United States resorted to such moves as transferring thematic sessions to regional platforms and appointing co-chair countries. At the same time, "the whole process is completely controlled by the Americans themselves" and the large non-governmental organizations created by them, she stressed.

"In general, it is difficult to expect anything from the American organizers of the "summit for democracy", as well as from ideologically close partners, except for pompous hypocrisy on the basis of democratic messianism and almost certainly anti-Russian statements in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Moreover, the tone of the meeting will be set not by a democrat, but by a former comedian, now the head of the criminal Nazi regime, which purposefully tramples on all imaginable democratic values in his country, "the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

She also noted that the Russian Federation deeply regrets the decision of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take part in "this unworthy performance."

Zakharova called it "the height of hypocrisy" on the part of the Us authorities to claim leadership in promoting democratic values on a global scale in conditions when their reputation in this area is "completely destroyed."

According to the diplomat, behind the efforts to organize a "summit for democracy" is Washington's desire to "update and legitimize American instruments of external control and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states."

To get everyone to see the world through the optics of a 'rules-based order' promoted to serve Washington's global interests. At the same time, we are talking about the design of an ideological platform to combat those on whom the American political elite is trying to label "autocracies". This is primarily Russia and China," Zakharova said, stressing that in this way Washington is trying to consolidate the Western community "and pull up supporters."

• Head of the White House Joe Biden and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
• © Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Moscow strongly opposes the fact that democracy in the American interpretation is imposed as an indisputable truth.

"Against the background of chronic internal problems, the United States has no moral right to lecture others," Zakharova stressed.

A similar idea is given in his article by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov. According to him, there are many problems in the United States that are not solved by democratic measures, but at the same time Washington positions itself as the only "trendsetter" in the world in socio-political values.

"Aren't there problems with racism, gun violence, corruption and social inequality in America? Why do about 40 million people in the richest country in the world live below the poverty line? Obviously, not everything is in order with freedom of speech, as eloquently evidenced by the culture of abolition, when people are simply thrown out of the public space for dissent, "Antonov emphasized.

As he noted, the world has seen the disastrous consequences of "attempts to forcibly export" American democracy in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

At the same time, the diplomat said that this year Washington set the task of "forming a coalition in the field of human rights, directed specifically against Russia."

"To use the generally noble idea of developing democracy to drag partners into anti-Russian traps. It is obvious that later everyone will be shown the developed statement as a common international position with condemnation of my country (RF. — RT) for defending national sovereignty and protecting the democratic freedoms of the Russian people in the East of Europe," Antonov stressed.

Far from democracy

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, noted in a conversation with RT, the United States is trying to use the "summit for democracy" primarily as a platform for forming a consolidation of its supporters against russia and China.

"The main goal that the Americans set within the framework of the summit is to unite as much as possible around them countries that are ready on certain terms to obey the American dictate, the American ideological machine, and oppose them to those states that pursue a truly independent policy, such as Russia and China," the expert said.

According to Shapovalov, this indicates a significant weakening of the US position on the world stage. He believes that now this "previously claimed international dominance country" has become only one of the sides of a multipolar world.

"The unipolar world is over. The United States can no longer dictate its terms to the rest of the world. This is what the United States has been doing all the period of its existence, considering itself the standard of democracy and adjusting all other countries to this non-existent standard," he said.

In turn, the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, in a conversation with RT, added that the United States did not invite many countries to the forum, and some, for example, Pakistan, refused to participate.

"The summit allows Washington to pursue its line, push its ideas, continue to promote the American position among its own. After all, it is no coincidence that Turkey and Hungary, in fact, the US nato allies, which have significant weight in the region, but began to show independence in their policies, were not invited to this event, so the States decided to revoke the "title of democracies" from them. This is seen as a schizophrenic bifurcation of the policy pursued by the US leadership, "the expert said.

At the same time, Rogulev noted that the United States, "so zealously teaching democracies to others," has many unresolved problems inside the country that are in no way associated with democratic values.

"In the United States, serious racial contradictions, social inequality, problems with migrants, violence, and the use of firearms remain. So the issues that are somehow related to democratic values, the Americans themselves will have to solve for more than one decade, "said Rogulev.

A similar position is held by Shapovalov. According to him, not only in domestic, but also in foreign policy, there are many signs that the United States is an "undemocratic state."

"The United States imposes its will on other countries, absolutely without ceremony, militarily and politically carrying out acts of aggression against independent states and committing coups d'état under the guise of "color revolutions", as well as by economic means - due to the enslavement of certain countries. All these methods are far from democracy," Shapovalov emphasized.

He also noted that a clear indication of Washington's imposition of its will on other countries is that Taiwan is taking part in the current "summit for democracy".

"This is a gross violation of international law, since Taiwan is not a recognized and sovereign state, including the United States does not recognize it as such. In fact, it is a disregard for the principle of China's territorial integrity and sovereignty. This is another provocation on the part of the United States against China," Shapovalov said.

• Joe Biden at the "Summit for Democracy"
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• © Susan Walsh

Assessing media reports about the US intention to allocate $ 690 million following the summit to support independent media in other countries and hold fair elections, the analyst pointed out that behind these loud words "lies a completely different meaning."

"These are programs that are aimed at promoting American values and forming agents of influence in other states from among journalists and experts, so that they, being on the monetary support of the United States, pursue a pro-American policy in their countries," Shapovalov said.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that anti-Russian formulations will appear in the final documents of the "summit".

"This is one of the reasons why the summit is going together. Such rhetoric was developed and approved taking into account the fact that those countries are invited to the forum that, according to the US plan, should meekly obey their will, so anti-Russian resolutions will be adopted, probably unanimously, "the political scientist concluded.