Democracy across the world is only on paper and billboards

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Protesters during a demonstration condemning the US attack on Venezuela and the seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, in Manila, on January 5, 2026. [AFP]

Democracy sells beautifully on posters and speeches: “Freedom. Human rights. Rule of law.” But lift the curtain in Washington, London, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, Canberra, and the illusion falls apart. It’s a quest for more power and influence that rules and not the principle.

As democracy and human rights hit a diminuendo globally, America leads the slide while others follow. It markets itself as democracy’s defender, yet its global conduct contradicts the sermon. Call it preaching water and drinking wine.

Start with South Africa. For decades, the West supported apartheid. The sage of the freedom struggle, Nelson Mandela, was incarcerated for 27 years while the West watched. The same governments are fond of lecturing the world, especially Africa, on human rights.