One ring to rule them all
–
The coherence of the Axis of Authoritarianism should not be overstated. For instance, despite its moves toward China and Iran, its record of human rights abuses at home and international humanitarian law violations in its war in Yemen, and its assassination of dissidents abroad, authoritarian Saudi Arabia remains, for better or for worse, a U.S. ally; many major European democracies were reluctant to decouple from Russia even after its invasion of Ukraine; and many “Status-Quo Coalition” (SQC, for short) countries, including the U.S., maintain close relationships with many despicable regimes.
–
However, there is a clear trend toward increasing cooperation amongst the world’s authoritarian powers, forming a real, if inchoate, emerging geopolitical bloc. The coalescence of this Axis of Authoritarianism is an existential threat to the rules-based international order and to global democracy. Emboldened and increasingly united, illiberal powers have become more and more aggressive in their efforts to undermine the global rule of law and expand their power at the expense of free nations with everything from corrupt influence to force of arms. Additionally, these powers benefit from the rise of like-minded authoritarian movements and leaders within the free world. Authoritarian populist movements are a force in the politics of many SQC countries, and several troubled democracies with institutional ties to the SQC through NATO, the Quad, or bilateral alliances are taking increasingly authoritarian turns – and are even deepening relationships with outright authoritarian powers.
–
Towards an Alliance of Democracy
–
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for the world’s democracies and their people. Many world leaders and civil society figures have realized that democracy itself needs to become an organizing principle – an axis – of international relations. The idea of an “Alliance of Democracies” is hardly a new thing; the Biden administration has convened two “Summits for Democracy,” in 2021 and 2023, and the attendance of Japan and South Korea in observer capacity at the 2023 NATO Summit demonstrated the increasing confluence of the free world’s chief military alliances across Europe, North America, and East Asia.
–
However, despite increasing cooperation amongst democratic governments and rhetoric about defending democracy, the population of the free world has failed to mobilize in response to the crisis. The challenge to democracy and the rules-based order posed by the Axis of Authoritarianism is probably second only to climate change among the threats faced by human civilization; and arguably, climate change cannot be addressed without sufficient global unity to take coordinated action, which cannot be achieved while the liberal order is contested.
–
From the public square to the drill square
–
Popular mobilization for climate action is widespread, as is domestic pro-democracy activism; and the war in Ukraine triggered a strong initial grassroots response. However, in the long post-Cold War era, the citizens of the free world have become used to safe, comfortable, secure lives where national security was a faraway matter, and where little was asked of them to contribute to the common defense.
–
A sea change in attitudes is needed. Citizens in free countries must take it upon themselves to do what they can to mobilize and prepare their societies for a long-term military confrontation with global authoritarianism, to overcome their internal differences and unite their societies, and be prepared to fight in defense of their own nations and to aid other democracies so that a common front line of deterrence is presented against the enemy, from Washington to London to Tokyo to Kyiv.
–
Additionally, wherever pro-democracy movements arise, we should aid them whenever we can.
–
Mobilizing our societies will not be easy. It will require revitalization of the defense-industrial base, hard choices about budgets and expenditures, difficult decisions about foreign relationships, and most of all, preparation of our citizenry. One part of that is increasing the “military literacy” of our societies, especially those that are closest to the threat. In some cases, conscription and expanded reserves may be necessary, but there is also a role to play for volunteer organizations and civilian preparedness initiatives, provided local law permits it. For instance, Lithuania has a civilian volunteer organization, the Lithuanian Riflemans’ Union, while Poland has recently instituted two-week basic training programs for civilians.
–
While such courses are primarily oriented toward local emergency defense, the large numbers of civilian veteran volunteers from around the free world who have served as trainers in Ukraine have helped prepare not only Ukrainian civilians for eventual mobilization but front-line Ukrainian soldiers as well. Such self-mobilization demonstrates the potential value of militarily literate civilian volunteer organizations in aiding partner democracies, especially when political or resource considerations limit the freedom of action of our governments.
–
Why we fight
–
Weathering this epochal confrontation of the 21st century will not be easy – and we must not lose sight of what it’s about. Military readiness must be maintained, but even more so must be an increased commitment to the values – chief among them humanity, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, egalitarianism, inclusivity, and justice – that make the societies of the free world worth defending. If we lose our grasp on those, we will defeat ourselves long before any foreign threat does. Increased martial virtue must be twinned with increased civic virtue. Our societies and the broader liberal international order are deeply flawed – but they are worth preserving in the face of a far worse alternative, and in the act of preservation lies the opportunity to improve them, and by so doing, if we’re lucky, we can come through the challenges ahead to a better world.
