During his electoral campaign last year, US President Joe Biden made very few foreign policy commitments. Yet one promise stood out: A pledge that, if elected, he will hold within his first year in office a summit of leaders from all democratic countries, who would be asked to join forces in "defending against authoritarianism" and "advancing human rights".

Mr Biden is keeping his promise: His "Summit for Democracy" is just weeks away. But the initiative, initially touted as a first-of-its-kind, has now been downgraded to just a virtual summit for which both the agenda and the list of invitees are yet to be finalised or made public.