But even when you step away from that, there is another interesting thing happening. And that is that China, through its technological prowess, is exporting its version of digital totalitarianism to other countries, in the form of its Orwellian-sounding Safe Cities initiative, in which it helps other authoritarian countries maintain control of their population through ubiquitous CCTV cameras, big data analytics, facial recognition software and the like, creating, you know, really a society not unlike what George Orwell imagined. Now, when it comes to the Russians, you know, as long as they feel they have a sufficient incentive to do so, theyll continue to hack and meddle and sow discord on social media. People don't like the way their societies have changed. Theyve got democratic movements and activity and demonstrations and protests in Hong Kong. For decades, libertarians have focused on illiberalism coming from the political left. Rep. Adam Schiff: Yeah. Were more likely to see civil wars break out within those environments, she said, citing Syria as a prime example. Even if he won, they thought, hed tweet like a populist firebrand while governing like a Romney Republican, constrained by the system. Authoritarians in every region are working together to consolidate power and accelerate their attacks on democracy and human rights, according to Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. When we look at authoritarian regimes its one of the subjects of the discussion today, the rise of authoritarianism across the globe you know, countries like China are weak and vulnerable in areas. We knew at the time as we were watching this that Russia was actively interfering in our election. Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Sochi. And that is it provides a mechanism to hold our own intelligence agency leaders, particularly political appointees, accountable. Thats why, on January 6, 2021, as zealots and extremists attacked the Capitol, I felt an unusual emotion mixed in with the horror and sadness: a dark sense that there was a silver lining. The PBS NewsHour series "Inside Putin's Russia" won a 2018 Peabody Award and the National Press Club's Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. There are plenty of medicines that would cure it. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, you know, I think one of the reasons why one of the many reasons why Russia had such a strong preference for Donald Trump, and I think theres a strong case to be made that Trump was so much better for China as well, is that our relationships with our allies atrophied so badly over the last four years. Or through aid agreements that are onerous, that indebt nations to China. 2023 Center for Strategic & International Studies. That overconfidence has been instilled into its citizens, leading me a decade ago to the mistaken, naive belief that countries such as Madagascar have something to learn from the U.S. rather than also having wisdom to teach us. But to do that, Democrats need to win every election. I want to underscore in every way that I can that I want the intelligence analysts and others to report to us exactly what their best assessments are, whether they think we want to hear it or they dont. Generally speaking, "authoritarianism" is a dysphemism for the Wrong People winning democratically. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. And the pandemic has accelerated many of these trends, Blinken said. Very quickly, the ruling classes hijacked people power and hoarded the economic dividends arising Hes been a champion throughout his career for upholding and strengthening democracy and rule of law. Freely elected leaders from Brazil to India have taken or threatened a variety of antidemocratic actions, and the resulting breakdown in shared values among democracies has led to a weakening of these values on the international stage. They have governments that can create a sense of community and of trust and get people to behave in a way that reduces the virus. Beyond Putins Russia, authoritarian regimes are on the rise globallya worrying trend that could roll back decades of democratic gains and human rights achievements worldwide. So I think we need to be careful that we dont allow them to characterize organic movements of people around the world as somehow the hidden hand of the CIA. Indeed, one of the most unforgettable moments, I think, of the last four years was when Donald Trump was asked by a Fox News host, I think OReilly, why he couldnt condemn Putin because the man was a killer. I. Part of this gets to even how the Chinese have impacted the investigation into the origins of COVID-19, the broader influence within international institutions, whether its the World Health Organization or the World Trade Organization, and gets into this sort of broader issue of a competition for influence within major international institutions. And I make no bones about the fact that he is a killer, a soulless killer for that matter. The propagandists share resourcesthe troll farms that promote one dictator's propaganda can also be used to promote the propaganda of anotherand themes, pounding homethe same messages about the weakness of democracyand the evil of America. One of the aspects, of course, of Orban's crackdown is against freedom of the press. Countries in every region of the world have suffered from new authoritarian abuses in recent years, including countries that had previously been considered beacons of hope for democratic progress, such as Sudan, Myanmar, and Tunisia. And so I dont think we had much of a choice. The rise of American authoritarianism is transforming the Republican Party and the dynamics of national politics, with profound consequences likely to extend well beyond this election. In reality, the denunciations were few and temporary. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and Our Constitution was made only for a moral and You know, the fact that Russias engaged in all this malign conduct isnt going to stop us from entering a New START Treaty when its in our national to do interest to do so, which it is. And it may be that all of us are going to have to be a lot more involved in politics and think a lot harder about how to ensure that our democracy survives than we ever expected to. Eventually, the authoritarian party will win. From Sudan to Myanmar, ordinary people continue to risk life and livelihood to demand their rights and liberties. Ecuador and Peru improved from Partly Free to Free after they completed successful elections and orderly transfers of power. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, you know, its a very good question. A report from the pro-democracy nonprofit Freedom House found that global democracy has declined for the 16th year in a row. For four years, we were unilaterally surrendering, leaving the climate accords and leaving WHO and we were disengaging. Thus Yeltsin calling in an artillery strike on the Russian legislature was "democratic," but Poland's social conservatives winning an outright majority in the recent election is "authoritarian." As practiced, the liberal democratic apparatus has not delivered, and so we are seeing the rising discontent of the underclasses and the deep disillusionment of those excluded from the growth seen after the supposed restoration of democracy. But we are going to need to both analyze the impact on the pandemic and where it has exacerbated our national security vulnerabilities, as well as analyze and were doing a deep dive on this, and have been for much of the last year whats the intelligence communitys role in pandemic awareness and being a tripwire for a pandemic. I think we need to be supportive in every way we can, up to the point where we simply give fodder for these autocratic regimes to paint pro-democracy movements in countries as some kind of a tool of the West. It continued through an aggressive social media campaign, overt media campaign, to try to influence events in our election, and more than that, it used one different vector. As Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell denounced Trump on the Senate floor, it looked like Republicans might follow the South Korean path and America could finally take its medicine. Because thats part of getting our house back in order as well. All Rights Reserved. Do you fear that that argument could be accepted by people around the world? Its high time for democratic governments to move from rhetoric to action. concerns it wouldn't be safe or fair. Ultimately, China concluded it wasnt worth it. If a parking lot at regional hospitals in Wuhan if parking lots are suddenly full compared to last year, maybe that tells us something. I would I would expect that without the ability to gather particularly large numbers for a time that provided another advantage for autocrats. The agony persists over years. Authoritarians are becoming more brazen in their attacks on human rights at home and abroad, which should be a call to action for everyone who values their own rights and the rights of their fellow human beings, said Sarah Repucci, vice president of research and analysis at Freedom House. Center for Strategic and International Studies There are continuing divisions in our country over the election. The vote was upheld by Duda's handpicked Supreme Court. I was doing you know, more than four years ago I started to do townhalls within the intelligence community at different agencies and Im going to go back to doing that. Its undermined U.S. credibility. But it has to be reciprocated. Elections are increasingly flashpoints for violence. The Kremlin has continued to prop up Alyaksandr Lukashenkas dictatorship in Belarus since providing propagandists and security assistance to help suppress opposition protests following the countrys fraudulent August 2020 presidential election. Alina Polyakova is the director of the Center for European Policy Analysis. Chinas a rising power, and already an extraordinary power. But, with all due respect, our politicians dont incite violent mobs to take over the government when they havent won an election.. The space of civil society is increasingly under pressure. And where I wanted to start was to pick up on your use of the term deterrence here. Find more of our programs online. And, sometimes, this is a cultural disappointment. Theres a question here that builds on your comments on Chinese technology. So when or, with the Russians, the protests around Alexei Navalny. And for some leaders around the world, the pandemic has been the crisis they have been waiting for. And this person asks well, starts off by noting that there has been some concern that congressional committees and members have politicized intelligence on a range of issues. A total of 60 countries suffered declines in political rights and civil liberties over the past year, while only 25 improved. Authoritarianism is a form of government characterised by strong central powers and limited political freedoms. Instead, they end up as authoritarian states with zombified democratic institutions: rigged elections in place of legitimate ones, corrupt courts rather than independent judges, and propagandists replacing the press. And rather than cleaning house, the Republicans who dared to condemn Trump are now the partys biggest pariahs, while the January 6 apologists are rising stars. Congressman Schiff has been one of this lead figures in the Congress to speak The first is to reform the GOP, so that its again a conservative, but not authoritarian, party ( la John McCains or Mitt Romneys Republican Party). You know, Russia is the kind of threatening actor that you see in a wounded and dying animal, thats dangerous because its wounded and dying. A report from the pro-democracy nonprofit Freedom House found that global democracy has declined for the 16th year in a row. It wasnt a partisan difference. The leaders of China, Russia, and other dictatorships have succeeded in challenging the consensus that democracy is the only viable path to prosperity and security, while encouraging authoritarian approaches to governance. Everybody loved her. So all of those aspects of Chinese power projection were going to have to meet and push back. Authoritarian leaders are increasingly collaborating with one another to spread new forms of repression and rebuff democratic pressure. But when democracies start dyingas ours already hasthey usually dont recover. Elections are increasingly flashpoints for violence. The rise of American authoritarianism is transforming the Republican Party and the dynamics of national politics, with profound consequences likely to extend well beyond this election. It is notable that China was deterred. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, Ill tell you, you know, what I think is the good news/bad news of the situation with the intelligence committees in particular, but its probably true more broadly of Congress. Military coups were more common in 2021 than in any of the previous 10 years, taking place in Myanmar, Chad, Mali, Sudan, and Guinea. Vladimir Putin won a referendum that extends his power until 2036. But authoritarianism has taken root among many conservatives across the world. And it's happening elsewhere. And many millions of people believe that big falsehood about the election being stolen or rigged. What's the long-term impact of some of those measures? And I think you know, I think Americans in general would certainly support that, from both sides of the aisle. If injustice and oppression arent bad enough, authoritarian governments bear an enormous social cost. And the questioner says, given the resources China has to throw at the problem and their lack of legal constraints, how do we counter Chinas efforts to buy influence worldwide with subsidized technology? We really appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day. In 2016, Donald Trumps campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was secretly meeting with Kilimnik, an agent of the Kremlin, an intelligence agent of the Kremlin, and providing Kilimnik with inside campaign polling data and strategic insights at a time when Russia was engaged in a social media campaign to help Donald Trumps election. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and If injustice and oppression arent bad enough, authoritarian governments bear an enormous social cost. As of today, some 38 percent of the worlds people live in countries rated Not Free, the highest proportion since 1997. Whats your sense about the gravity of that threat and how we better protect ourselves from it? Washington, DC 20036, Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy, Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet, From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression, Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism, Emergency Assistance and Thematic Programs, Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. I really look forward to the conversation. When Trump won office, I pushed back against forecasts that democracy in the U.S. was doomed, she explained. As uncomfortable a topic as it may be for China and as distasteful as it is for Russia, Im, you know, proud to see our representatives going toe to toe. And were going to explore that today because authoritarianism is on in the rise. So ultimately, in terms of the rise or fall of global democracy, China presents the gravest model. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march, writes The Washington Post: Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege. Yes, and there are reasons for this. Now, on those very high-profile investigations we were not so successful. China is a worthy rival in every respect on land, on sea, in the air, in space, in the cyber realm, in the diplomatic world, in the development world. But COVID became a cover for him to expand attacks and seize more power. Im proud to see with the Biden administration that in meetings with Russia and China there is no shying away from raising these issues. You know, we still have, I think, tremendous advantages over China, and one of them is our system. Pro-democracy groups say more than 60 elections have been postponed during COVID, and more than 40 countries have restricted press freedom. Sometimes, the president who ends up in your White House isnt even the person who got the most votes., Our election system isnt perfect, I replied then. At some point, Trumps spell over the country and his party could break. And so rebuilding that trust is going to be important. Corruption is growing. In Egypt, Dr. Hany Bakr was arrested for a Facebook post criticizing the government for sending medical masks abroad, when he didn't have enough in its own practice. And the worst may be yet to come. And part of the question is, really, how has COVID-19 impacted the rise of authoritarianism around the world? Democracy is in real danger all over the globe, said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. Now, I dont know that China had a plan to do so. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, I think that 5G presents us with a real test case, that forces us to consider whether we need to make changes to the level of public-private partnership to compete with a country that can throw billions and billions of dollars to underprice any competition globally so that it can obtain a monopoly, and then it can raise prices at will, or utilize that technology for global espionage. Freedom House says 2019 was the 14th consecutive year of decline in their Global Freedom Index. It may require new kinds of politics. According to pro-democracy institutions, authoritarianism was on the rise globally even before the coronavirus pandemic hit. The system weakens as the disease spreads. Weve covered a lot of ground, from support to democratic movements overseas, to technology, to Covid-19. It was just it was very low risk. And how do we work with our partners to protect American democracy more broadly overseas? Nick Schifrin reports and talks to The Atlantics Anne Applebaum about this dangerous global dynamic. So I think we should be unabashed about it. But in Putins worldview, there are no democrats; there are only autocrats and hypocrites. Szeleczki says her mother's death could have been prevented, and that, in Hungary, no one person should have total control. What happened? Authoritarians in every region are working together to consolidate power and accelerate their attacks on democracy and human rights. Governments are becoming less transparent and have lost the trust of the people. Thank you for the kind words and thank you for bringing us all together today. Eventually, the authoritarian party will win. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. We have a question that is takes this particular subject, on the politicization of intelligence, but in a slightly different direction. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march, writes The Washington Post: Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege. Yes, and there are reasons for this. So they had a very big stake in the outcome of our election and they pushed out this Kremlin-originated smear against Joe Biden. They aggressively push out information about how bad the regime is, how impoverished the country is because of the regime. And so China is not in a good position to be arguing that its method of dealing with the virus is the best. Were delighted to have you here today. Welcome. Great introductory comments. But we were aware of this in real time. According to pro-democracy institutions, authoritarianism was on the rise globally even before the coronavirus pandemic hit. According to pro-democracy institutions, authoritarianism was on the rise globally even before the coronavirus pandemic hit. My studies and experiences have taught me that democracies can die in many ways. And there are any number of tools that can be used if theyre able to tip and cue each other. You know, there were, certainly, efforts at spear phishing and other malign activities. And so and there are a number of autocracies, at the same time, that have done badly. And I know thats how the president, President Biden, feels about it. I think its a reminder that as the United States continues to compete and in some cases cooperate, this is much more than about a military struggle, which is what its often conceptualized as. And because of accountability I dont believe that you can simply say, well, a pox on both houses. For decades, libertarians have focused on illiberalism coming from the political left. And the pandemic has accelerated many of these trends, Blinken said. Other countries occasionally make cameos, but the story is still about us. Eventually, the authoritarian party will win. Please check your inbox to confirm. Although the United States total score did not change for events in 2021, with two declines balanced by two improvements, the countrys freedom score has declined by 10 points over the past decade. So really appreciate you touching on a number of these issues with us at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. That gets to the broader issue of politicization of intelligence. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the march, writes The Washington Post: Democracy as an ideal and in practice seems under siege. Yes, and there are reasons for this. There's an old saying: Never let a crisis go to waste. It was clear to me where the threat was coming from. Rep. Adam Schiff: Well, John, thank you very much. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. For decades, the United States has proclaimed itself a shining city upon a hill, a beacon of democracy that can lead broken nations out of their despotic darkness. If injustice and oppression arent bad enough, authoritarian governments bear an enormous social cost. Thats why most American pundits and journalists used an outsider comes to Washington framework to process Trumps campaign and his presidency, when they should have been fitting every fresh fact into an authoritarian populist framework or a democratic death spiral framework. I was reading the intelligence. A report from the pro-democracy nonprofit Freedom House found that global democracy has declined for the 16th year in a row. And we have seen governments all over the world restrict freedom of the press. As Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine rages on, authoritarianism is surging. Layla Quran is a general assignment producer for PBS NewsHour. So I was proud to see Tony Blinken being unabashed in championing human rights and bringing up the situation involving the Uighurs and in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and This was arguably most visible last year in the United States, where rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6 as part of an organized attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election. But, in this house, there is only loss. Of course, you all know that hes the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In other countries, opportunism. In Hungary, Orban withheld COVID relief money from his political opponents. But more important, Frantz explained, there was a cleaning of the house after Parks impeachment, with the new administration aggressively getting rid of those who had been complicit in the countrys slide to authoritarianism.. This is why its vital to be open about whats happening to raise the specter of authoritarianism. The past 18 months portend a post-Trump GOP future that remains authoritarian: Trumpism without Trump. And I know that he spends just as much time working for his district as he does for all of us. Weve got a lot of questions from folks in the audience. During the Donald Trump presidency, the news covered a relentless barrage of unprecedented attacks on the norms and institutions of American democracy. I mean, you talked about democracy, and I wanted to broaden it a little bit to U.S. allies and partners. So they wanted to push out this narrative and have for several years that Russia hadnt interfered in our election four years ago, that it was Ukraine, and they also wanted to smear Joe Biden, who the Russians considered a grave threat. Thats exactly the narrative the Kremlin wants to tell. Now, I have to say thats a lot more difficult today than it was four years ago because the last administration revealed and accentuated so many challenges to our own democracy. Autocracies pose a particular threat to gender equity and the rights of historically marginalized people, including women and LGBTQ+ people. You have to look country by country for a complete explanation. Authoritarians in every region are working together to consolidate power and accelerate their attacks on democracy and human rights, according to Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. Authoritarians in every region are working together to consolidate power and accelerate their attacks on democracy and human rights, according to Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. That leaves American democracy with a bleak prognosis. If we cant achieve that consensus, then foreign powers will continue to be able to manipulate us and our elections. Seth G. Jones: So picking up on this theme of paying a price, you know, there is a broader discussion. And his answer was, are we so different. And Ive been talking with my Republican colleagues about trying to do exactly that. The space of civil society is increasingly under pressure. Finally, the symptoms were undeniable. The president who orchestrated the greatest threat to our democracy in modern times is free to run for reelection, and may well return to office. My names John Hamre. And in the case of those two very important investigations, we ultimately were forced with the choice particularly after the infamous midnight run of doing a real investigation, which meant that it was going to be difficult and fractious, or in the name of bipartisanship doing a whitewash and calling it progress. Were more likely to see civil wars break out within those environments, she said, citing Syria as a prime example. And so this we consider one of our highest priorities on the committee. The former president, Donald Trump, was the gift that kept on giving to the Russians. And you know, for four years we had a president that played into that false equivalency, that false narrative. It goes back to some of the issues that the U.S. considered and in a few cases actually did during the Cold War. But it does get to this issue of authoritarianism. The American system isnt just dysfunctional. Now, when that took place I was gravely concerned that if we did not react more strongly that others would learn that cyberattacks are essentially a freebie. After Trump stoked a bona fide insurrection, the threat to democracy would be impossible to ignore. So you talk for a second even within the congressional side, how serious are some of these concerns about the politicization of intelligence, even in how Congress has used it and on committees? Read: UN secretary-general: American power is in decline, the world is in pieces. I mean, I think theres no doubt that when you look at the last couple of years U.S. relationships with some of its allies and partners have taken a bit of a hit, whether its in Europe or in Asia, including the South Koreans, the Japanese, even the Australians. Seth G. Jones: And it is interesting to note the U.S. participated, for example, in a covert program to provide assistance to Solidarity in the 1980s, which has recently become declassified. So, looking down the road, how do you see how do you see this competition occurring within international institutions? When the coronavirus arrived in Hungary, Orban used it to illustrate that he was already fully in control of his system. Rep. Adam Schiff: Seth, thank you so much. Where is the U.S. when it comes to this story? Nick Schifrin is the foreign affairs and defense correspondent for PBS NewsHour, based in Washington, D.C. He leads NewsHour's foreign reporting and has created week-long, in-depth series for NewsHour from China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Cuba, Mexico, and the Baltics. But I wanted to go to a slightly broader issue. But, nonetheless, China was deterred from intervening in the way that Russia had. And, you know, I cant tell you exactly what the next technology will be, but I do think we need to think about, as the pandemic has revealed, the need to bring some of our supply chain, all of our supply chain for really critical infrastructure needs, back home and but also make sure that industry and government are working together in a way that will allow us to be globally competitive and push out technologies that preserve peoples freedoms and privacy, at the same time providing an alternative to what the Chinese are selling. That report was consistent with our minority report. Turkey was once a haven for Chinas persecuted Uyghur population. Youll never want to be able to youll never want to show all the proof that you have, because then that will help the adversary evade you the next time or evade attribution the next time. So I think it has to be very much a part of our agenda. The vote was upheld by Duda 's handpicked Supreme Court against Joe Biden did! 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