Summit for Democracy raises more policy questions

Significance

The online meeting, which included civil society groups and representatives from the business sector, was ostensibly a forum for considering strategies to bolster democratic institutions. However, it also offered implicit criticisms of China and Russia while playing to Biden’s domestic agenda, in particular efforts to strengthen voting rights and bolster social spending.

Impacts

• The second summit is expected soon after the November 2022 US midterm elections, when further claims of electoral fraud are likely.
• Criticism of Washington’s choice of participants will spark calls for a multinational committee to set the invitation list.
• Controversy over Taiwan’s inclusion in the Summit for Democracy will increase during 2022.