Emphasizing Democracy Hampers Biden's Foreign Policy

The Biden Administration touts shared democratic values as the basis of a coalition that will side with Washington against China's challenge to some of the international norms supported by the United States. While it resonates with traditional U.S. sensibilities, this approach is problematic in practice. The pool of liberal states is small and shrinking, and U.S. global prestige as the lodestar of democracy has declined. Instead, U.S. diplomacy should rally partners based on the more widely shared common security and economic interests in opposing Chinese expansionism and economic coercion.