(Trends Wide) — Democratic institutions in the United States and around the world have become “shaky,” former President Barack Obama warned in an exclusive interview with Trends Wide on Thursday, and it remains up to American leaders to figure out how to maintain them going forward.
Speaking to Christiane Amanpour, Trends Wide’s principal international anchor, she said the federal indictment against her successor, Donald Trump, is proof that the rule of law continues to reign, for now, in the United States. And she asserted that the Western effort to guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty is vital to the long-term protection of democracy.
However, Obama said that there are still signs that democratic norms are eroding. And he warned that economic and social inequalities will only make it harder to maintain healthy democracies in the future.
“I think democracy will win if we fight for it,” Obama told Amanpour in Athens, where he is discussing democracy issues. “Our current democratic institutions are unstable, and we are going to have to reform them.”
The full interview with Obama airs at 10 pm Miami time on Trends Wide in an hour-long special, “Obama & Amanpour: Will Democracy Win?”
In it, the former president offered a broad view of global democratic and political issues, including the impeachment of Trump earlier this month, which he acknowledged sends a suboptimal message to the rest of the world.
“It’s less than ideal,” he said. “But the fact that we have a former president who has to answer to charges brought by prosecutors upholds the basic notion that no one is above the law and the charges will now be resolved through a judicial process.”
More troubling than the actions against Trump themselves, the former president said, is the broader effort to “silence critics through changes to the legislative process” or “intimidate the press.” Those efforts, he said, are “right now more prominent in the Republican Party, but I don’t think it’s something unique to one party.”
After having been president of the United States, [considero] you need a president who takes the oath of office seriously,” he said. “You need a president who believes not just in the letter, but in the spirit of democracy.”
Obama’s trip to Greece this week marked a return to the site of one of his last stops abroad as president. In 2016, shortly after Trump was elected his successor, Obama lauded the enduring power of American democracy from the system’s ancient cradle.
Back then, as his supporters at home and their foreign counterparts worried about the future under Trump, Obama said that American democracy was “bigger than anyone.”
He lent symbolism to his commitment to democratic ideals when he climbed the Acropolis in central Athens and toured the Parthenon, the 2,500-year-old temple built by the ancient Greeks and dedicated to the goddess Athena. She also visited the museum built nearby, which houses antiquities from the period.
Since then, however, concern for both American and global democracy has only intensified. Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election and the ensuing attempted insurrection at the US Capitol exposed just how fragile the American system remains. And autocrats around the world have consolidated their power.
Meeting with dictators or other undemocratic leaders is just one complex facet of the US presidency, Obama said, recalling that he dealt with many figures he disagreed with during his time in the Oval Office.
“Look, it’s complicated,” Obama said. “The president of the United States has a lot of responsibilities. And when I was president, I was dealing with figures who were in some cases allies, who, you know, if you push me privately, do they run their governments and their political parties in a way that I Would you say it’s ideally democratic? I’d have to say no.”
The comments came hours before the White House was to roll out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an official state visit. Modi has been accused by rights groups of a penchant for authoritarianism, but he is also the leader of the world’s most populous democracy and is seen by the White House as an important bulwark against China’s growing influence.
Obama cited his work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on climate change as an example of seeking common ground, even with leaders with poor human rights records. This week, Biden compared Xi to a dictator in a speech to donors in California.
“You have to do business with them, because they are important for national security reasons. There are, you know, a number of economic interests,” Obama said.
“I think it’s appropriate that the President of the United States, whenever he can, uphold those principles and challenge, either behind closed doors or in public, trends that are concerning. That’s why I’m less concerned with labels than with actual practices.” he added.
Modi, who will be feted by Biden this Thursday, has shown a tendency towards authoritarianism that has worried the West. He has cracked down on dissent, attacked journalists and introduced policies that rights groups say discriminate against Muslims.
Obama acknowledged that he also worked with Modi on climate change and other areas. But he said that raising concerns about Indian democracy must also come into diplomatic talks.
“Part of my argument would be that if the rights of ethnic minorities in India are not protected, there is a very good chance that at some point India will start to separate. And we have already seen what happens when these kinds of rights start to emerge. major internal conflicts,” he said.
During his stay in Greece, Obama also met with participants in the Obama Foundation’s Leaders program. Leaders from Africa, Asia and Europe participated in sessions with the former president and gave presentations on his work to advance democracy and find solutions to social problems.
Obama stated in the interview that no democracy can prosper with high levels of social or economic inequality. He used the example of an overcrowded migrant ship that sank in the Mediterranean this month, killing hundreds of people, which received comparatively little attention with a submarine missing around the wreckage of the Titanic.
“In a way, it’s indicative of the degree to which people’s life chances have become so unequal,” he said.
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(Trends Wide) — Democratic institutions in the United States and around the world have become “shaky,” former President Barack Obama warned in an exclusive interview with Trends Wide on Thursday, and it remains up to American leaders to figure out how to maintain them going forward.
Speaking to Christiane Amanpour, Trends Wide’s principal international anchor, she said the federal indictment against her successor, Donald Trump, is proof that the rule of law continues to reign, for now, in the United States. And she asserted that the Western effort to guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty is vital to the long-term protection of democracy.
However, Obama said that there are still signs that democratic norms are eroding. And he warned that economic and social inequalities will only make it harder to maintain healthy democracies in the future.
“I think democracy will win if we fight for it,” Obama told Amanpour in Athens, where he is discussing democracy issues. “Our current democratic institutions are unstable, and we are going to have to reform them.”
The full interview with Obama airs at 10 pm Miami time on Trends Wide in an hour-long special, “Obama & Amanpour: Will Democracy Win?”
In it, the former president offered a broad view of global democratic and political issues, including the impeachment of Trump earlier this month, which he acknowledged sends a suboptimal message to the rest of the world.
“It’s less than ideal,” he said. “But the fact that we have a former president who has to answer to charges brought by prosecutors upholds the basic notion that no one is above the law and the charges will now be resolved through a judicial process.”
More troubling than the actions against Trump themselves, the former president said, is the broader effort to “silence critics through changes to the legislative process” or “intimidate the press.” Those efforts, he said, are “right now more prominent in the Republican Party, but I don’t think it’s something unique to one party.”
After having been president of the United States, [considero] you need a president who takes the oath of office seriously,” he said. “You need a president who believes not just in the letter, but in the spirit of democracy.”
Obama’s trip to Greece this week marked a return to the site of one of his last stops abroad as president. In 2016, shortly after Trump was elected his successor, Obama lauded the enduring power of American democracy from the system’s ancient cradle.
Back then, as his supporters at home and their foreign counterparts worried about the future under Trump, Obama said that American democracy was “bigger than anyone.”
He lent symbolism to his commitment to democratic ideals when he climbed the Acropolis in central Athens and toured the Parthenon, the 2,500-year-old temple built by the ancient Greeks and dedicated to the goddess Athena. She also visited the museum built nearby, which houses antiquities from the period.
Since then, however, concern for both American and global democracy has only intensified. Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election and the ensuing attempted insurrection at the US Capitol exposed just how fragile the American system remains. And autocrats around the world have consolidated their power.
Meeting with dictators or other undemocratic leaders is just one complex facet of the US presidency, Obama said, recalling that he dealt with many figures he disagreed with during his time in the Oval Office.
“Look, it’s complicated,” Obama said. “The president of the United States has a lot of responsibilities. And when I was president, I was dealing with figures who were in some cases allies, who, you know, if you push me privately, do they run their governments and their political parties in a way that I Would you say it’s ideally democratic? I’d have to say no.”
The comments came hours before the White House was to roll out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an official state visit. Modi has been accused by rights groups of a penchant for authoritarianism, but he is also the leader of the world’s most populous democracy and is seen by the White House as an important bulwark against China’s growing influence.
Obama cited his work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on climate change as an example of seeking common ground, even with leaders with poor human rights records. This week, Biden compared Xi to a dictator in a speech to donors in California.
“You have to do business with them, because they are important for national security reasons. There are, you know, a number of economic interests,” Obama said.
“I think it’s appropriate that the President of the United States, whenever he can, uphold those principles and challenge, either behind closed doors or in public, trends that are concerning. That’s why I’m less concerned with labels than with actual practices.” he added.
Modi, who will be feted by Biden this Thursday, has shown a tendency towards authoritarianism that has worried the West. He has cracked down on dissent, attacked journalists and introduced policies that rights groups say discriminate against Muslims.
Obama acknowledged that he also worked with Modi on climate change and other areas. But he said that raising concerns about Indian democracy must also come into diplomatic talks.
“Part of my argument would be that if the rights of ethnic minorities in India are not protected, there is a very good chance that at some point India will start to separate. And we have already seen what happens when these kinds of rights start to emerge. major internal conflicts,” he said.
During his stay in Greece, Obama also met with participants in the Obama Foundation’s Leaders program. Leaders from Africa, Asia and Europe participated in sessions with the former president and gave presentations on his work to advance democracy and find solutions to social problems.
Obama stated in the interview that no democracy can prosper with high levels of social or economic inequality. He used the example of an overcrowded migrant ship that sank in the Mediterranean this month, killing hundreds of people, which received comparatively little attention with a submarine missing around the wreckage of the Titanic.
“In a way, it’s indicative of the degree to which people’s life chances have become so unequal,” he said.
