December 09, 2021

Democracy vs. China: Biden’s Top Priorities Are Sometimes in Conflict

Featuring: Lisa Curtis

Source: Axios

Journalist: Dave Lawler

President Biden has described the global competition between the U.S. and China as a battle of democracy vs. autocracy. The reality is often murkier.

Reality check: “If we only dealt with perfect democracies, we couldn’t even deal with ourselves,” notes Lisa Curtis, who helped craft the Trump administration’s China strategy and now heads the Indo-Pacific security program at the Center for a New American Security.

  • Biden has also had some success in syncing up with fellow democracies when it comes to China, particularly on human rights issues.
  • Still, hopes that this week's summit might be a stepping stone toward an "alliance of democracies" may be tempered by the difficulties of determining who exactly would attend it.

Read the full story and more from Axios.

Author

  • Lisa Curtis

    Senior Fellow and Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program

    Lisa Curtis is a senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She is a foreign policy and national securit...