Some Global Vignettes

Rather than focus on one single issue, today I plan to look at three political developments that underscore the ability of autocracies and dictatorships such as Russia, Iran, and China and the extreme right of the US Republican Party to create an “alliance” that threatens the Western liberal democracies. These include lying blatantly to global audiences. They show no indication of disappearing any time soon, given the support that the “alliance” of autocracies receives from dictators and wannabees around the world.  

Let’s explore.

Putin’s Russia thrives on lies and disinformation. Last week, at a panel discussion in New Delhi, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia was simply defending itself from “Ukrainian aggression. The audience openly laughed at him, and some actually shouted, “come on”!  Contrary to his claim, Russian president Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine on 24 February last year, in what he called a “special military operation” against the country.

Newsweek quoted Professor Konstantin Sonin of the University of Chicago as saying that, "This is hilarious. And embarrassing," he tweeted. Russian 'diplomats' think that the lies they use to feed Putin's fantasies [to get promoted] could be taken as anything but lies by anyone else," he added. Despite the incredulity, Russia’s allies continue to support its war of aggression out of self-interest: Russia’s supporters are either dictators who admire Putin’s hold on Russia or recipients of cheap Russian energy and military supplies.

With respect to Iran, many member states were angry at the United Nations for inviting Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian to address the U.N. Human Right Council. This after it had been expelled from it in November for its massacre of protestors. The foreign minister’s presence was not the only issue of contention among Iranian and foreign activists as he also held several other meetings during the UN session, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto to name a few. Many believe that meeting with the Iranian foreign Minister at such a meeting actually embellishes his credentials rather than ignore his presence.

Iran remains at war with its own people and continues to arrest and hang protestors. The regime continues to deny women equal rights yet speaks at Human Rights forums as though it were a paragon of gender equality. The United Nations continues to support the right of rogue states to promote their views in multilateral forums, knowing full well that every such speech is another nail in the UN’s coffin of credibility.

A third issue is the way the US Republican Party is veering away from liberal democracy and towards religious theocracy or, at least, an autocracy.

Last week, former President Donald Trump was formally charged with 34 felonies. He may or may not win in 2024. But the Republican Party has become a clone of his mentality and vision. And that is a scary prospect because it indicates that the anti-democratic thinking and hatred and division unleashed by the former president is now part and parcel of mainstream Republican thinking. 

According to NBC News, a Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that, if passed, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators, to register with the government.

Sen. Jason Brodeur's bill, titled "Information Dissemination," would also require bloggers to disclose who's paying them for their posts about certain elected officials and how much.

"If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register" with the appropriate office within five days of the post, the legislation says.

In addition, former President Trump spoke to the CPAC Conservative group, stating lie after lie, including a reference that Russia should bomb NATO headquarters, harking back to his time in office when he tried to destroy the alliance. His audience responded with loud applause, underscoring that he is still the favorite of the extreme Republican right. Unfortunately, his main competitor, Ron DeSantis, continues to espouse ideas as radical and ludicrous as Trump’s but without Trump’s historical baggage. 

Republicans in Florida continue to introduce laws that attack the very foundation of American democracy. According to FOX NEWS, Florida state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia filed SB 1248, an act that would cancel the state's Democratic Party. 

While this law will probably not pass, it underscores the scorn that many Republican legislators at all levels of government feel towards the country’s democratic institutions and their goal of creating a one-party state.

These are but three examples of how autocracies or would be autocracies are filling us with disinformation and legislation aimed at curtailing individual liberties. There is no way that these regimes will ever be replaced unless their citizens take matters into their own hands. 

This includes the United States, whose electorate will have to take an existential decision on their own governance in 2024. 

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Edition: Estefanía Cardeña