he social contract between Western liberal-democratic governments and their citizens—the unwritten, aspirational agreement widely understood to guarantee equal protections for human and civil rights and political freedoms, a market economy with equal opportunity for all participants, separation of government powers, and the rule of law—is tattered. Exacerbated by the current global health crisis and resulting economic disruptions, legitimate social grievances are low-hanging fruit for authoritarian regimes looking to subvert popular sentiments by grabbing hold of the narrative and weaponizing it against the West. To restore moral leadership on the global stage, the United States and other liberal democracies must address the underlying causes of societal discontent within their own borders and begin the hard work of repairing their relationships with their citizens. They should start by acknowledging their shortcomings, offering transparency, and restoring accountability.
These social grievances are already palpable in the United States. COVID-19 infections have surpassed three million, leaving record unemployment in their wake and prompting questions of whether the United States has given up on fighting the pandemic, and whether the heavy-handed response by autocratic China presents a better model than the messy, disorganized and haphazard measures undertaken by liberal democracies of the West.
Waves of protests against racial injustice and police brutality in response to George Floyd’s death have rolled across the country. The U.S. government’s excessively violent riot control, broadcast to the world, has been touted as evidence that democratic ideals are waning. The rise of an uncontained pandemic, violent political divisions, and entrenched societal inequalities undermine assertions that “the American model” is the best and most effective way to manage a crisis.
Widespread frustration has fueled protest movements before—the French yellow vests movement, Occupy Wall Street, anti-austerity protests and the Brexit vote in the UK, Ukraine’s anti-corruption and pro-Western Revolution of Dignity—exposing the frayed fibers of the democratic social contract. The United States and other established democracies must work to reclaim the high ground with their own populations, along with the rest of the world. We can successfully defuse authoritarian efforts to subvert the narrative with an honest, transparent acknowledgement of the situation: the errors we’ve made and the lessons we’ve learned. But this must accompany a practical, actionable effort to address the underlying failings and a firm and credible affirmation of the liberal democratic values and safeguards that underscore the original American model.
There is real risk if we fail in this. The authoritarian strategy of subversion was foreshadowed in a 2013 article by General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, entitled The Value of Science is in the Foresight: “The focus of applied methods of conflict has altered in the direction of the broad use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian, and other nonmilitary measures—applied in coordination with the protest potential of the population,” he wrote, emphasizing that “[l]ong-distance, contactless actions against the enemy are becoming the main means of achieving combat and operational goals.” Those asymmetrical tactics include using “internal opposition to create a permanently operating front through the entire territory of the enemy state,” Gerasimov wrote.
Russia employed these tactics in its successful annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine, its semi-deniable war in eastern Ukraine and its interference in a number of foreign elections—none of which were met with significant resistance or retaliation from the United States or the international community. The indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers in 2018 for their role in interfering in the U.S. presidential elections two years earlier is one of very few actions, largely symbolic, against Russia for waging Gerasimov-style warfare against the United States.
In addition to calling out and counteracting these external attacks, Western liberal-democratic governments must work to address domestic tensions before other powers have the opportunity to weaponize them. The most effective strategies are familiar and proven as they’re the ones we traditionally export abroad through diplomacy to spread democratic ideals and counter corruption. To restore civilian trust in the government, we should bolster those functions on our own soil: a thriving civil society, including academic institutions and NGOs; adequate government oversight and accountability; protection for dissenting voices, including whistleblowers; and, a free and independent press.
Transparency at the outset—and accountability afterwards—set liberal democracies apart from authoritarian regimes. These foundational ideals should be championed and celebrated, rather than undermined by hidden tax returns and an unapologetic attack on oversight.
The United States has work to do if it is to move beyond the current chaos and reassert itself as a credible and laudable leader. Progress is never guaranteed or permanent. It’s a long way from the “shining city upon the hill” described by another Republican president not long ago. One path forward takes the country loping down the hill, ceding the soft power narrative. The better, harder path reaffirms “the great experiment” that the United States has always been: perpetually, if painfully, learning from its mistakes and correcting course. This is the only option if the country is going to move forward in a global leadership role and recover from years of divisive and isolationist policies.
Liberal democracies must remain vigilant about the asymmetrical actions from autocratic foreign powers like Russia and China, whose leaders are already taking advantage of the decline in public confidence and have taken steps at home to ensure they can play the long game without fear of electoral challenge. But the only sure way to deny despotic regimes the use of “the protest potential of the population” in our liberal democracies and disrupt adversaries’ goal of creating “a permanently operating front” within our borders is to restore the promise of the social contract at home by addressing racial injustice, civil rights, economic inequality, corruption and other authentic domestic grievances playing out before us. Patience is low and platitudes won’t get us through this. We must do better and we must be seen doing better.
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Liberal Democracies’ Broken Social Contracts are Being Used Against Them
Photo by Max Bender via Unsplash.
July 13, 2020
T
he social contract between Western liberal-democratic governments and their citizens—the unwritten, aspirational agreement widely understood to guarantee equal protections for human and civil rights and political freedoms, a market economy with equal opportunity for all participants, separation of government powers, and the rule of law—is tattered. Exacerbated by the current global health crisis and resulting economic disruptions, legitimate social grievances are low-hanging fruit for authoritarian regimes looking to subvert popular sentiments by grabbing hold of the narrative and weaponizing it against the West. To restore moral leadership on the global stage, the United States and other liberal democracies must address the underlying causes of societal discontent within their own borders and begin the hard work of repairing their relationships with their citizens. They should start by acknowledging their shortcomings, offering transparency, and restoring accountability.
These social grievances are already palpable in the United States. COVID-19 infections have surpassed three million, leaving record unemployment in their wake and prompting questions of whether the United States has given up on fighting the pandemic, and whether the heavy-handed response by autocratic China presents a better model than the messy, disorganized and haphazard measures undertaken by liberal democracies of the West.
Waves of protests against racial injustice and police brutality in response to George Floyd’s death have rolled across the country. The U.S. government’s excessively violent riot control, broadcast to the world, has been touted as evidence that democratic ideals are waning. The rise of an uncontained pandemic, violent political divisions, and entrenched societal inequalities undermine assertions that “the American model” is the best and most effective way to manage a crisis.
Widespread frustration has fueled protest movements before—the French yellow vests movement, Occupy Wall Street, anti-austerity protests and the Brexit vote in the UK, Ukraine’s anti-corruption and pro-Western Revolution of Dignity—exposing the frayed fibers of the democratic social contract. The United States and other established democracies must work to reclaim the high ground with their own populations, along with the rest of the world. We can successfully defuse authoritarian efforts to subvert the narrative with an honest, transparent acknowledgement of the situation: the errors we’ve made and the lessons we’ve learned. But this must accompany a practical, actionable effort to address the underlying failings and a firm and credible affirmation of the liberal democratic values and safeguards that underscore the original American model.
There is real risk if we fail in this. The authoritarian strategy of subversion was foreshadowed in a 2013 article by General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, entitled The Value of Science is in the Foresight: “The focus of applied methods of conflict has altered in the direction of the broad use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian, and other nonmilitary measures—applied in coordination with the protest potential of the population,” he wrote, emphasizing that “[l]ong-distance, contactless actions against the enemy are becoming the main means of achieving combat and operational goals.” Those asymmetrical tactics include using “internal opposition to create a permanently operating front through the entire territory of the enemy state,” Gerasimov wrote.
Russia employed these tactics in its successful annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine, its semi-deniable war in eastern Ukraine and its interference in a number of foreign elections—none of which were met with significant resistance or retaliation from the United States or the international community. The indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers in 2018 for their role in interfering in the U.S. presidential elections two years earlier is one of very few actions, largely symbolic, against Russia for waging Gerasimov-style warfare against the United States.
In addition to calling out and counteracting these external attacks, Western liberal-democratic governments must work to address domestic tensions before other powers have the opportunity to weaponize them. The most effective strategies are familiar and proven as they’re the ones we traditionally export abroad through diplomacy to spread democratic ideals and counter corruption. To restore civilian trust in the government, we should bolster those functions on our own soil: a thriving civil society, including academic institutions and NGOs; adequate government oversight and accountability; protection for dissenting voices, including whistleblowers; and, a free and independent press.
Transparency at the outset—and accountability afterwards—set liberal democracies apart from authoritarian regimes. These foundational ideals should be championed and celebrated, rather than undermined by hidden tax returns and an unapologetic attack on oversight.
The United States has work to do if it is to move beyond the current chaos and reassert itself as a credible and laudable leader. Progress is never guaranteed or permanent. It’s a long way from the “shining city upon the hill” described by another Republican president not long ago. One path forward takes the country loping down the hill, ceding the soft power narrative. The better, harder path reaffirms “the great experiment” that the United States has always been: perpetually, if painfully, learning from its mistakes and correcting course. This is the only option if the country is going to move forward in a global leadership role and recover from years of divisive and isolationist policies.
Liberal democracies must remain vigilant about the asymmetrical actions from autocratic foreign powers like Russia and China, whose leaders are already taking advantage of the decline in public confidence and have taken steps at home to ensure they can play the long game without fear of electoral challenge. But the only sure way to deny despotic regimes the use of “the protest potential of the population” in our liberal democracies and disrupt adversaries’ goal of creating “a permanently operating front” within our borders is to restore the promise of the social contract at home by addressing racial injustice, civil rights, economic inequality, corruption and other authentic domestic grievances playing out before us. Patience is low and platitudes won’t get us through this. We must do better and we must be seen doing better.
