The Biden Administration plans to lead an Alliance of Democracies and has adopted a strategic frame for its foreign policy that emphasizes the competition between democracies and autocracies. Can Biden restore America’s role as a moral authority on democracy and rights and is this the right frame for international politics in the 21st century?
This panel seeks to answer this question in part by reflecting on America’s role in protecting and promoting open societies, democracy, and human rights in the period since September 11. In the intervening twenty years there have been multiple challenges to America’s moral authority, both in its international engagements and its domestic policy.
