Democracy and US Foreign Policy

Panellists discuss the future role of democracy and human rights in America’s foreign policy.

The end of 2019 marked the 14th consecutive year of decline in global freedom, but also a wave of popular movements from Iraq to Hong Kong to Venezuela demanding accountable government and rule of law.

Against this backdrop, the United States and China have vied in increasingly confrontational ways for leadership of an emerging global order. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has further sharpened the potential stakes of this competition for both defenders of democracy and aspiring autocrats.

As tensions in the US-China relationship continue to escalate, the question of values and the role they play in foreign policy has been brought back onto the global stage.

Will democracy itself play a more central role in US post-crisis foreign policy? Will there be a fundamental shift in strategy if a Democratic administration takes office following November’s elections, or if President Trump secures re-election? And what does this mean for the US relationship with Europe?