Under former President Donald Trump, America’s global leadership declined markedly. A key consequence was the rise in dictatorships across the world. Once sworn in, President Joseph R. Biden swore to reverse this trend. A key strategy for him is to reconsolidate global democracy alliances. In view of this, the President has planned a summit or democracies for December 2021. Uninvited, Russia and China are furious, tagging their exclusion as unfair. This interesting development is reported by France 24. Here is an excerpt:

Calling the US plan “an evident product of its Cold-War mentality,” ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said the December 9-10 event would “stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world, creating new ‘dividing lines.'”

The summit is meant to fulfill a campaign pledge by Biden to advance the cause of global democracy at a time when autocratic governments have been on the rise.

But when the State Department on Tuesday published a list of about 110 invited countries — without including Russia or China — their reaction was furious.

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