2024 Could Be a Very Rough Year for Democracy
Having triumphed in the global conflicts of the 20th century, liberal democracies entered the new millennium with every expectation that the wins would keep on coming. Europe would continue to integrate and strengthen its liberal supranational institutions, as expanding the European Union, the Eurozone, and NATO had no downsides. Participation in the global economy would force China to democratize as its growing middle class demanded greater freedoms. Growing prosperity would also strengthen young democracies in India, South America, and post-Soviet Russia. A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would stabilize the Middle East and pave the way for reform in the Arab world and Iran. The internet would disseminate liberal culture globally, creating a smaller, more enlightened, and more harmonious global community — led by a United States that would never turn its back on the free world.
