The US Role in Democracy Promotion: Continuity or Collapse?

For much of the past eighty years, the United States has seen itself — and often acted — as a global champion of democracy. Through the power of example, and through its diplomacy, security alliances, and aid programs, Washington has sought to strengthen democratic institutions and push back against authoritarianism. The record, of course, has never been perfect. The US has at times backed autocratic leaders in pursuit of strategic or economic gain. But overall, it has been a net force for democracy worldwide. Today, that legacy is in question. A new administration is challenging democratic norms at home while dismantling the very tools once used to support democracy abroad. Thomas Carothers, director of the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, joins the program to look at how the Trump administration is reshaping global democracy — and what scholars and analysts should be watching to understand the full impact of Trump's policies on democratic trends around the world.