in the work i've been able to do with mitt romney, someone who is pushing forward on the child tax credit. those are the types that sensible leaders, moral leaders i think we can see in both parties. >> the right gentleman i think of us for coming in. that's going to wrap 2024 conversation with the u.s. senatee candidates. thank you for partnering with us, to curtis and andy kim for participating pre-thank you can you can watch the entire discussion again online. read david cruise in the entire team in nj spotlight news thank you foror being here, good nigh. >> tonight nj decides 2024 candidate conversation is presented in partnership with the rowan university. >> one of the tightest races for control of congress and modern political history, stay ahead with c-span comprehensive coverage of key state debate

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giving you a front row seat to democracy. next assistant secretary of state for democracy under bureau's efforts in advancing representative government protecting human rights global democracy posed by china and russia. cohosted by the atlantic council and the international republican institute. >> good morning everyone. hopefully you are all on your way to being fully caffeinated and settled in. it's really a treat to be back here. welcome to advancing democracy by her side chat on world leadership and priorities with really terrific assistant secretary, feels good to say those words.

my name is jena i'm the executive vice president of the atlantic council a few blocks down the road. on behalf of the council i would like to extend my tremendous thanks to executive vice president, patrick, scott and their colleagues all of you here at the international republican institute for hosting us this morning and to our audience for joining us. we are confident today's discussion will provide important insights into the future of u.s. strategy and leadership in the pursuit of democracy across the globe. especially under such trying circumstances. the atlantic council mission is to shape the global future together with partners and allies. essential to that mission is the freedom and prosperity center that we have at the council. with this mission of promoting the well-being of the poor and marginalized populations around the world the center produces key research explain the interplay between prosperity,

democracy and freedom. like so many around the world that we believe the best way to defend freedom and democracy is to assure the evidence of this benefit. so the freedom and prosperity center does just that. it's indices that it produces show democracy and the rule of law are really essential ingredients for true long-term prosperity. this is an un- biased data driven fact-based argument against these autocratic models. much of the center's research focuses on the pursuit of democracy around the rug along with the world the u.s. and the allies play in promoting the democratic institutions in developing countries all of his work so hard to safeguard. has been a key collaborator of the century in producing this research together our organizations have produced multiple reports and events on democracy and elections launch a paper series analyzing multiparty system in different regions around the world.

this research the conversation will have here today is much needed. the 2024 addition indices launched this past june and showed a growing trend. democracy as we know continues to be in decline political freedom has plummeted to a 24 year low treatment by a world wide curtailment of civil liberties. restrictions on freedom of expression and information and a decrease to the number of free and fair elections. data from the embassy shows this decline is not specific to one region but is truly present throughout the world. including north america and western europe. in this context nearly 50% of the worlds population has already castro will cast about in a national election this year. the largest number in history. and so with authoritarian trends on the rise, democracy is on the line in many of these cases.

this year has already shown us all five of the spectrum from peaceful and fair elections in taiwan and south africa to authoritarian leader refusing to release stranglehold power in venezuela. it's more important than ever to promote democracy at home and abroad. that's the heart of american foreign policy. the bureaus democracy human rights and labor at the state department plays a crucial role in the american efforts to protect and promote freedom, democracy and human rights. i'm especially delighted to introduce the bureaus newly and finally confirmed assistant secretary. assistant secretary iran brings to the poor a wealth of experience serving numerous rolls in the state department along with national security council. this might be your fifth or sixth time back in the department.

then at the for new american security. she did academic holding a doctorate in political science from columbia and numerous security and democratic reform in the middle east and north africa. just one week ago she was appointed by the white house to serve on the commission on security and cooperation in europe. bring your diplomatic skills to protect human rights and freedom across the region at a time of tremendously increasing importance printed together here we also have patrick work vice president strategy impact patrick also served as a nonresident senior fellow for the freedom and prosperity center at the atlantic council. lots of points of intersection. patrick is been instrumental in helping to develop freedom and prosperity center research and programming on freedom and democracy. this year alone he has authored or co-authored five reports for the council offering a variety of concrete policy initiatives

for the u.s. government to promote democracy abroad. he also cocreated our state of the parties paper series and collaborate with the council on three events featuring some of washington's top democracy experts. patrick and assistant secretary randy pre-think is so much for joining us and look forward to hearing your thoughts and expertise. thank you again assistant secretary iran for joining us. to have a confirmed leader at the helm of this bureau. roughly two issue months onto the role i thought i would start strengthening democracy overseas where are you directing your team to focus on and why? >> first i should just say thank you so much for that warm and generous introduction.

it is so compelling what you are doing in terms of enacting the act both democratic norms and process and governance. both contested and it's important u.s. policy. what are the benefits in terms of the economic local governance benefits international security benefit and awards were democracy is on the rise and allies and collaborating. so that the thank you to you into iri which is a great partner. its many, many decades on partnership here and we are so honored to be a funder, a spot partner looks close to my heart is the work being done at research. thank you to kimber and patrick for having the vision to turn to

iri. to both the programmatic organization that does work on the ground and evaluation. to your question, one of my main goals of taking the helm is to reflect president biden in the biden administration's priorities and to make the case for why we are in the geopolitical context. looking back to the national security strategy president biden wrote a couple years ago clear emphasis returned to the great power competition. no one is happy it is a fact facing america's international security. amongst other threats and opportunities. i committed to all of you. my job is to explain the why. what are we competing about?

what's a clash of ideas between us and the prc? between us and russia? flushing that out both internally and strategists who question to both within the government. and then and most importantly as a diplomat. explaining we are not in a competition just to score a point on the board. this is not competition for competition sake. as a real war of ideas out there. is truly marketplace. our countries shopping around for which approach to go toward is whether it is better to govern through authoritarian that might make right as its right approach. also secures the power, the patronage and economic resources at the hands of the few

representing the citizens in the country. that is one model we do not believe in the united states government is the right model. it does not align with the u.s. democratic value. more importantly it does not align versus the global norms on governance that have been repeatedly agreed upon the charter. is not just america imposing its ideas on the world. this is a reflection of right in consideration that goes back at least to 1945 in the post-world war ii order. we are competing over the decision we think and support allow citizens to reflect their aspiration to achieve opportunity. allows for greater stability, economic prosperity and international security. fundamentally democratic governance might not be ideal.

might have a lot of flags. but essentially been proven to be better or at least a bad mood the world has experience in modern time. when we compete with the prc, we are trying to shore up our examples of why the transatlantic alliance. it's not because of this hubert. it's not because of the american empire. it's about this clash of ideas is being contested every day. i should say finally, because i will stop here, this is all very theoretical i could get into somehow the manifestation. this is not competition the united states and her allies asked for. there is a revisionism among the authoritarian the autocrats in the world. there is a bandwagon among the

authoritarian to depose their system, their idea, their vision on others. this is again not an imperial democracy. it standing up for what we believe in and out of revisionism, regression and imposition the prc, russia authoritarian order that we think is deeply. excellent unpack those this pris the broader vision. start with challenges. the biden administration see as the most potent threats to democracies overseas? and along with that why does that benefit u.s. taxpayer? >> okay, there are so many answers here. limits are the few examples. i gave you would be good theory it never going to bring it down to real foreign policy that we at the state department gravel is the right word because we don't think we have all the answers. foreign policy is a debate. yourcostly debating the right

approach. we believe some the greatest threats come again from this revision of authoritarian model. we believe that, and i'll give you a few examples here. the prc has pioneered and others have followed a practice, and transnational repression. not only do they go after dissidents and civil society, journalists and bloggers within the prc, now are emboldened to go after disadvantage in chinese nationals remove those have been exiled or fled. this is extremely dangerous to the american taxpayer. this means the united states is fair game for the prc and others. and again because there's a modeling and a copycat effect here others including russia and other authoritarian assistants are learning here that borders do not mean a sovereign right to

in europe, in the united states, and latin america, this is very dangerous for this is a world where security is not confined to the nationstates. threats are transnational. that is a very real practical implication for american security. taxpayers should care about this not just for security but also because americans want to live in a world where they can trade, do business, go to school, travel all over the world. right? it's inherently and again since jefferson's time this is not new. but the evacuation is at the top. if you go around america people are proud of the peace corps cot

experiences. the mission abroad. we are deeply international in our mindset. and so to have a world where it's not safe for your kids to study abroad it's not safe for your business to do business. where the rules on the road and the rules of governance, of economic interdependence are being distorted is essentially not good for america's prosperity. for america's safety and for the magnification and the representation of what america stands for. i could go on and on of other examples for the transnational repression is incredibly dangerous and urgent. >> list again a bit more to the various ways in which its weakening democracy overseas. research from the atlanta counseling prosperity center shows bulletproof evidence prc is actively working to undermine political freedoms across the globe. every major region. you nicely articulated the view is as to ways in which the ccp

is a threat to democracy. could you elaborate out ccp collusion and the kremlin which is now also well documented how does that exacerbate challenge. >> this in bandwagon this alliance information among autocrats that i mentioned is deeply worrisome. it's manifesting right now in the ccp alliance of convenience, a transactional relationship between the prc and the kremlin. so for example the ccp is offering manufacturing industrial help to russia that essentially in the defense industrial base and russia which then indirectly or directly helps the war machine. we and our allies and much of the world has stood up and said absolutely unacceptable russia to invade ukraine and a gross violation of international norms

february 2022. again defending the un charter. defending the issues the ideals of sovereignty. defendant the notion again of democracy has a right to govern its people have expressed and desired. this on the precious war machine and continuing ability to fight in ukraine is deeply worrisome. that is one example. i want to talk a little bit now about russia what russia is doing. it's model of promotion of authoritarian is different in flavor. the ccp is maneuvering behind the scenes, is trying to make deals. it's very self-interested in many ways and what is trying to do around the world. and it essentially has a huge number of people that has to keep happy so this needs the economic while is to continue to turn. do not want to diminish or at all suggest is not dangerous.

it's a different model because it's trying to capture and exploit resources and workers around the world. russia in the past couple of years is make the policy decision to actively try to overturn an upset democratically elected governments. going after some of the weakest also elsewhere around the world there's an internal domestic fight between parties or between different factions. and tries really hard for the democratic. i want to talk a bit about georgia because that's really alarming to us in the u.s. government right now after 12 years the georgia dream will have a very contested election. and we see this play out in terms of russia trying very hard to support this party essentially copycat bypassing a

foreign agent law that limits society. limits human rights organizations limits the ability of expression of alternative ideas to the ruling party to critique to suggest new ideas which is everyone knows here is critical for healthy election. and so with these elections sels starting around january or february russia and the georgia dream have tried really hard to compress this space for political opposition in so many ways. so much so we in the state department responded by using our visa designation to really hold accountable those who conceive of this idea of the foreign agents. we could talk about the leverage. but we have to hold those who come to light with the russia model and themselves are in the system accountable.

we are deeply worried about these elections. they are only fair if there can be a free debate. there is no problem if georgia dream went fairly and squarely at the limit the ability for the people of georgia to express their desire. and meanwhile back to the point of connectivity between what happens domestically and what happens in a more theoretical framework of international relations, 80% of the georgian people are aspiring towards greater e you inclinations. there is a process. the people want to be closer to the eu and want to go through the reform process the secession involved. the limitation and the involvement of russia is trying really hard to bring the georgian government and people back and that's just unacceptable so i'll stop right there talk about georgia i think

you'll get the point that we are worried the u.s. governments watching at the very highest level. >> you have really compellingly laid out the challenge to democracies overseas and the ways in which the biden administration is thinking about them. let's switch a bit too wet it is and will do to address them. we need to prioritize challenges and finite resources to do something about that. something perhaps it's uniquely positioned giving up prior leaning with this constraint in mind how are you directing your team to supporting civil society was spending resources on for example strengthening core pillars of democracy for the parties legislatures given the critique so it raised recently noting has skewed funding towart supporting civil society advocacy and away from the core

pillars of democracy. >> i'm glad you asked this question. because again it back to our partnership with you all, with iri this is a change of foreign assistance is with the heart of drl mission. for many decades has sponsored supported and encouraged in very generous appropriations year in year out that are bipartisan in nature the support is vast and wide. and strong as i learned. foreign assistance in drl is a significant probably one of our main lovers of the promotion of democracy, human rights, civil society, standards et cetera. the question you're answering is how we go about doing it? i first i would recommend everyone read on our website our strategy. the strategy talks about the different pillars of democratic support. including the procedural part. including party support which we

are talking about. including the complementary support for civil society and the support for other institutions including independent journalists which is a key part of artwork in drl. our support for transitional justice to enable society to hold accountable themselves the authoritarians in their path that might have suppressed rates. with the theory towards deterring future repression. our strategy lays out the different pillars or freedom of expression, or tenderness in government and freedom are interest in technology and human rights et cetera. it is a vast strategy it really informs our proposal process. i think people are familiar its deeply competitive per the rules of the road assigned by congress and enforced by drl which has to do with ensuring we get really good, cutting edge proposals

that really make the case for impact. so in addition to our strategy which governs how we spend our money we are always looking for new ideas. that's the secret. we are always taking big bets in her 30 -- 40 year history of doing foreign assistance in our bureau on making these crazy out-of-the-box ideas. but have the potential to cultivate an impact five, 10, 15 years these beds have paid off again and again. so i like to say it's almost the angel investment firm inside state department foreign assistance. we are creative. we are longtime thinkers and then we stop but we don't see something working. i think that is a key part of our secret that's always the case in foreign assistance there is a lock in dependency which i can say with great familiarity per my previous job. drl we start new ideas and new theories of change and end ones that are not working.

we are interested in the impact spirit interested in what was he working. we are interested in the comparative key studies within regents seeing what works and is venezuela. and now we see this authoritarianism in nicaragua, comparing those two. we do that a lot in a foreign assistance approach. now, i think i answered that what i would just add us on her only lover of change. i could talk a little bit if you would like about the other mechanisms needed. >> is a great segue to my final question before me too audience q&a pretty mention this in your opening, how is drl incorporating evidence? what works and why to his offending decisions? >> maybe i'll start where i left off. enumerating our strategies. it's a very healthy and robust and growing pot of money. we collaborate very close with h usaid which is also growing.

it's drg and promotion on had correction assistance program. other bureaus in state department i should add that we have a collaborative strategy. in a distance to foreign assistance we are growing in the area of sanctions that are directly targeting the actors that are promoting democracy but we have the woman next to me which drl i'm actually 10 years ago when i was last in drl. the idea they were just limited to what had happened with this great human rights defender and opposition is to russia could be repeated and iterated on globally. appreciated the tool because it allows us to have a smart sanction that the drivers entrepreneurs shall we say and some of the systems promoting

the authoritarianism correction. happy these services are held accountable sit look, they are doing terrible things to their people. if they are stealing money, if they are repressing dissident and civil society. to stop it from getting. it's a state department's purview to give at will. so we're using the visa restrictions and what we are finding in terms of evidence and learning and analyzing this tool which is relatively new, it has a fact of naming and shaming internally. there is a status to being able to travel abroad. so some of the systems of the georgia were adjusted our policies, ironic were we have done it very deliberately and carefully to punish and give consequences and accountability to the visuals and were active in pushing back