a special interview with mach mallets brown looking at the resiliency of democratic institutions. that is india, us and the u. k. faced crucial elections to this. don't forget this morning who's on that website is the w dot com and for social media like instagram. next the handle you need is pat dw. and in small headlines in 45, the category issues with a lot say what the fast fashion as an environmental 9 a clothing graveyard image of land desert. this is where things wealthy industrial

nations no longer need and lightest textile ways get stranded fashion. watch now on youtube, the indian w today. lot mark miller, phone, president of the open society foundations. we want to talk about the decline and democracy and human rights. and how to stop it, mark over 2000000000 people. the go to is a poet says here in local, regional or national elections. give them the see, expect taishan specific us to the outcome of these elections? are you voice very will be? it's the end of the year. well, it does seem to be a year where there are more or less ends involving more people going to vote than

ever before. but it comes at the end of 20 years of study annual democratic decline. so, you know, we could end up with a year of a record number of elections on a disappointingly less amount of democracy. and it's, that's a strange place to be because these elections take place at the time of huge crisis in the world. we've just come off halters year and well rec board. people kit being killed in conflict has reached the numbers we've not seen since the 1980s. we're seeing extraordinary breakdowns of a little of the lower conflicts with civilians being targeted with human rights being pushed back in many countries in many fields. so that might set you up for a set of elections which will bring real change, but failing incumbents would be injected and bright. you lead,

as you spoke for these frustrations and problems which i like for the better or for the well, you might hope it would be for the better. but to be honest, when you look at the likely full costs for each of these elections individually, what you see is a much more disappointing patton on the will be elections like in my own country the day when the fairly traditional way. it's likely that a long standing come, government gets replaced by, you know, a fresh, a new position. but, you know, in other places you've got russia where i put in will face no serious opposition. you have india where, you know, time is to moody, is doing remarkable. things in many ways, but is no friend of human rights and yet seems cruising through to a big victory. and you've above all, got the drama of the united states,

where either president trump has just won. the 1st court chris wrote in iowa in a dramatic fashion, setting up an almost certain contest between him and president biden in november. and, you know, i, i think this doesn't exactly suggest the fresh generational change of lead is around the world that you might hope. the situation merited. so all the countries which gives you particular to cause for concern, but you say, i'm very bored about the possible outcome in this country for example. well, i think one has to begin with the united states because the us influence globally is so significant, it has remained such an important leader for good and sometimes so bad in the world that you know it's democracy perhaps coming off the rails in november is key i mean, we've done polling as a society which shows that 2 thirds of americans,

the worried there will be violence around the election. and you know, there is plenty of posing evidence that neither side will accept the results. the other side, when we have a dramatic breakdown of trust in the american body, paula take a massive pulverized ation on one side, threatening to as a rule, do anything it takes to impose its will going forward. so it's a very dangerous place. but you know, there are other elections to where we will see in the european parliament tree elections, you know, a huge cross country exercise. you know, the current polling suggests that there will be a surge in the odd right votes and an incremental increase in, in incense, right votes. and that's the center i'm left is likely to get, you know, quite

a co shop in those elections. well, you know, if it was just a swing from the center left to the center, right. you know, nobody would worry, i think these are all groups that respect democracy and it's, and the rules of democracy. but, you know, there is continuously now the, the risk in both national european situations as well as the europe level that we're going to see, you know, also rotarians sitting in the palm and to the right to the left or to the right. well, i mean, the next in particular focus is to the right, but let me be clear, i don't think that the right has a monopoly of extremism. you know, we're seeing on the left to on university campuses as well as in politics. you know, a lot of sort of adult meyer and extremism and failure to kind of build consensus

and compromise with other groups. so, you know, this, this issue of polarization, you know, is, is, is across politics. so what kind of strategies to use? so just as the open society foundations to counter a liberal tendencies, well, we were foundations such foundations, which grew up in the last 2 years of the cold war where at least grantees and recipients in central europe, particularly. but also in the old soviet union. you know what people who had fought for the right to free speech and potentially right in future to vote. and so, you know, we had a kind of classic human rights and democracy mandate give people a vote secure the human rights under the law. and the rest will take care of itself

on the history of the last. a decayed, also as being the rest doesn't take care of itself that people remain in polling allows and others, you know, remain very much committed theoretically to democracy. but in judging their own governments and how they're going to vote, much more understandably, driven by issues around that own and that families security that they go jobs. are those jobs threatened by waves of illegal immigrants have they got access to affordable health? and the education is the cost of living, accelerating beyond that means. and, you know, it's these sets of immediate quality of life, security of life issues and pocket book issues which, you know, attending voting sort of, people vote for, you know,

an apparently or 3rd period government. it doesn't mean that they're into a single, solitary and is a matter of a democracy. more often than not, they're throwing out an incompetent incumbent who might be democratic, but as a deliberate for them. and so, you know, i think we've got to see behind the sort of argument to political philosophers around rights and democracy and you know, sure up the effectiveness of government because that's the best way for democracy to prevail is when it's listening to people and delivering folders and to autocrats deliver better results and the end in the end though for a while perhaps. but because, you know, they're able to apparently sort of pray on the shortcomings of government. and, you know, a little bit like seizes in the past promising bread and sexes. you know,

offer some immediate sort of and the tax caught. so you know, promising to stop in and immigration all. some other things which, you know, a pledge is which stands out well for the short months of an election campaign. but in government often provide prove much how to deliver and there's a thing about of authoritarianism, is it tends not to come with a governing philosophy, you know, other than carrying down what was already that. and so it very usually lacks of sophistication of policy delivery to really address these things of problems like shortcomings in an education system or a health delivery system. and so, you know, it might, and it also doesn't have the seeds of its own renewal. and it, because, you know, it doesn't respect elections as a means for, for, you know,

knowing when it's times out. and it's time for the other luck to come back into our . and so, you know, over time it is, will prove a set of failed doctrines. but you know, the difficulty is the risk, you know, a risk that donald trump spoken to in the us, for example, of, you know, winning an election, but then tearing up so many of the sort of soft rules of democracy practices if democracy. but by the time the next election comes around, the media is not that is, is less free quotes of being stuff with, you know, pro trump judges of state rules being rewritten in ways that limit the effective franchise. and so there is a risk but also are terry and it's getting pie and then pull a loud rock behind them to make sure nobody can clamber up and replace. so what

would be a positive outlook of all the election space been talking about in 2024 look like for the democracy from your point of view. well, it would be, you know, a set of elections where, you know, popular concerns did come through in a way that politicians had and responded to because this is a well of mounting crisis and, and saw challenge politics. but to come out of the year, you know, with a series of disappointing results would be just not disappointing. but you know, democracy has shown an extraordinary habit to surprise to suddenly produce that extraordinary young leader who is the right woman on mine for the moment. and, you know, i think we shouldn't go into this, you know, with that mindset that the has to end up with a set of bad results. um,

you know, politics is a horse race. and so sometimes a long shot horse winds and you know, so i hope we shall go into the years. really consensus ends with our eyes on the race and i'm cheering on the exciting on the dogs. ok, thank you. a lot my love for on for this interview. thank you. the it may have been decommissioned but the new to power plant in mole belgium is busy as an ada. this is where a radio new clients are produced. for cancer research and treatment demand road mine is in numerous does probably ends need more nuclear

power. focus on your next on d. w. answer the conflicts with tim sebastian, the israel. how my small booth briefly to an open quote, to be the hague product city. as welcome to move, including my guess we're stuff about booty and the westbank booth has the palestinian national initiative. we've never been in such a difficult situation. so how will the more and some kind of gaza ever be rebuilt? conflict in 16 minutes on d. w. the asked about why does this? because now i'm leaving the new host to

join us for an exciting exploration of everything in between moses a video and audio production 5 d w. i hope that you will tune in the this is focus on europe. i'm lara baba, lola, welcome. for centuries, it was water that help protect the tiny archipelago a venice against invaders. but now water itself has become the threat in 2019 via talley and city experience, the worst flooding in decades with high tide levels inundating the lagoon. historic buildings and architectural masterpieces were damaged, smaller floods continued to hit venice of sea levels rise and the foundations of

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