Populism is threatening democracy around the world. However, authoritarian domestic actors are not the only danger to this political system: Ironically, discourse emphasizing democracy in international politics has also served to distract attention from its essence.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began three years ago, Western leaders framed the war in Ukraine as a battle not only in defense of sovereignty, one of the most widely shared norms in international politics, but democracy as well.
Yet this narrative was merely focused on the national defense of a democratic state. It had the paradoxical effect of downplaying the institutions and values that define democracy, replacing them with an ideology centered on conflict between states.
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