Biden Rallies Global Democracies as U.S. Hits a ‘Rough Patch’

WASHINGTON — A fewer days earlier President Biden’s Summit for Democracy, a virtual gathering of much than 100 countries that opens connected Thursday, the Chinese overseas ministry released a stinging study astir the American antiauthoritarian system.

The “gunshots and farce connected Capitol Hill person wholly revealed what is underneath the gorgeous quality of the American-style democracy,” the Chinese study said, citing the Jan. 6 riot. In a state wherever “money decides everything,” the study charged, “an entrenched governmental paralysis” renders governing impossible.

A spokeswoman for the Russian overseas ministry struck a likewise contemptuous code successful precocious November. “The United States claims the close to determine who is worthy of being called a ideology and who is not,” said the spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, according to Tass, the authorities quality agency. “It surely looks cynical. I would accidental that it looks pathetic, fixed the authorities of ideology and quality rights successful the United States and successful the West successful general.”

A backlash from authoritarian governments that were not invited to a acme gathering meant to enactment antiauthoritarian values is hardly surprising.

But adjacent U.S. officials concede that American ideology is straining from governmental polarization, radical injustice and discord, voting rights restrictions and home extremism, among different issues. Some activists are urging Mr. Biden to give much attraction to problems astatine location earlier turning his absorption abroad.

“You can’t effort to export and support ideology globally erstwhile you can’t support it domestically,” said Cliff Albright, a co-founder and enforcement manager of the Black Voters Matter Fund, a progressive nonprofit radical successful Atlanta. “You can’t beryllium the planetary fireman erstwhile your location is connected fire.”

That hostility volition loom implicit the two-day virtual gathering of leaders from exemplary democracies similar Germany, Japan and Sweden to countries with mixed records specified arsenic Georgia, Nigeria and Pakistan. The meeting, which volition besides see journalists, civilian nine activists and concern leaders, is meant to beryllium a forum for democracies to speech ideas and critiques, U.S. officials say. Participants volition besides marque commitments connected governmental reform, corruption, quality rights and different matters.

“The U.S. is intelligibly going done a unsmooth spot close now,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, a nonpartisan radical dedicated to quality rights and democracy. The United States ranked 50th connected Freedom House’s annual scale of planetary freedom, helium said. Last month, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance placed the United States connected its database of “backsliding democracies.”

Domestic shortcomings should not deter the United States from promoting its halfway values wherever authoritarianism and populism person gained traction successful caller years, Mr. Abramowitz said, “as agelong arsenic it’s done with humility.”

“Without United States engagement and leadership, the origin of ideology volition not advance,” helium said. “Who other volition bash it?”

Mr. Biden has said the satellite stands astatine a humanities “inflection point” successful the contention betwixt ideology and autocracy. He has besides vowed to amusement that the U.S. strategy is superior to much centralized models, similar China’s, which brook small dissent. Administration officials accidental they conscionable that situation but person nary illusions astir their home troubles.

“We attack this week with some humility and confidence,” Uzra Zeya, the nether caput for civilian security, ideology and quality rights, told reporters astatine the State Department connected Tuesday.

She added: “Humility successful that we privation to perceive and larn and don’t shy distant from our shortcomings; assurance successful our changeless striving for a much cleanable union; and our certainty that, moving together, democracies tin and volition present for the world’s citizens, careless of the earthy woody that autocrats and authoritarians effort to sell.”

But others cautioned against moving the spotlight overseas portion problems festered astatine home. The national authorities person said that convulsive home extremists proceed to beryllium emboldened by mendacious claims astir the 2020 election. Former President Donald J. Trump is warring successful tribunal to artifact the merchandise of documents requested by a legislature committee investigating the mob onslaught connected the Capitol. And Republicans person passed voting restrictions successful 19 states this year.

While Mr. Biden has called defending the close to ballot an urgent priority, galore of his supporters kick that national authorities to bolster voting rights, standardize basal predetermination rules and outlaw gerrymandering has not precocious successful Congress.

A White House information expanse issued earlier the acme cited the transition of his bipartisan infrastructure program arsenic a salient illustration of a functioning democracy. But Marc H. Morial, the president and main enforcement of the National Urban League, said that much enactment was needed connected home threats to democracy. He called the acme “a missed opportunity.”

“You cannot abstracted what’s going connected globally with what’s going connected successful the United States,” Mr. Morial said.

The Biden medication could besides usage the acme to acceptable retired longer-term plans to enactment with different countries facing akin threats to democracy, said Rachel Kleinfeld, a elder chap successful the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington deliberation tank. For example, officials could strategize connected ways to ace down connected U.S. extremist groups progressively making connections overseas, she said.

Understand the Claim of Executive Privilege successful the Jan. 6. Inquiry

“American ideology astatine location and planetary ideology overseas are successful dire request of strategy, of improvement, due to the fact that some are facing swift recession,” Ms. Kleinfeld said. “But a acme is not a strategy. In fact, a acme has been a distraction.”

Domestic issues are not the lone imaginable root of awkwardness astatine the meeting, which is acceptable to diagnostic remarks from Mr. Biden, sessions with heads of authorities and much than a twelve events.

The medication has besides faced questions implicit its criteria for invitations. Critics person questioned the inclusion of countries similar the Philippines, which the State Department has condemned for extrajudicial killings, and Pakistan, which the United States accused of “forced disappearance by the authorities oregon its agents; torture; and cases of cruel, inhuman oregon degrading attraction oregon punishment by the government.”

Freedom House recovered that Georgia was affected by the power of oligarchs implicit its authorities and quality media, and that Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy, had endemic corruption and permitted the harassment and arrests of journalists.

“I would not person thrown a enactment successful rather this way,” Ms. Kleinfeld said of the “broad tent” of invitees.

Hungary and Turkey, which are NATO members, were not invited; nor were respective different countries that place arsenic democracies but person records of repression. Singapore was besides near out, though Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Vice President Kamala Harris some traveled determination this twelvemonth to beforehand its narration with the United States arsenic an state successful the South China Sea.

“The determination to not invitation robust democracies similar Singapore and Bhutan underscores that ideology is successful the oculus of the beholder,” said Curtis S. Chin, the erstwhile U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank from 2007 to 2010.

Brazil, Latin America’s largest — but progressively authoritarian — democracy, besides was not invited; nor were Egypt Saudi Arabia oregon the United Arab Emirates.

Jen Psaki, the White House property secretary, said this week that the invitations should not beryllium treated arsenic a “stamp of support connected their attack to democracy.”

“This is an opportunity, again, not to observe everything we’ve done connected democracy, either for the United States oregon each these countries, and telephone it a day,” she said. “It’s an accidental to proceed to strive to bash better.”

Michael Wines contributed reporting.