Democracies united
Vladimir Putin has rallied the West
Russian aggression is prompting rare unity and severe reprisals.
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Demonstrators marching during a rally in support of Ukraine in Santa Monica, California, on Feb 27, 2022.
PHOTO: AFP
The Economist
Since the fleeting days after the unifying attacks of Sept 11, 2001, the century has not been kind to expectations that the world's democracies would work together effectively. America's costly wars and erratic leadership, Germany's preference for engagement over confrontation, Britain's rejection of the European Union, the backsliding of Poland and Hungary: even before President Joe Biden bungled America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, such interrelated developments weighed on hopes that he would reinvigorate not just Nato but also, perhaps, the promise of liberal democracy itself.
His one bold thrust in that direction - a new trilateral pact with Australia and Britain, to contain China - managed to blindside and anger President Emmanuel Macron of France, reinforcing the conviction in the Elysee Palace that Europe should develop "strategic autonomy".
