More than 70% of the world’s population lives under an autocratic leader. In fact, today there are only 34 liberal democracies – the lowest number in more than 25 years.
How can we reverse that trend?
In episode 70 of Giving Ventures, we talk with three leaders about important organizations working to turn the tide of autocracy and raise the profile of democracy.
First we hear from Leopoldo Lopez of World Liberty Congress, a newer group created and led by the very dissidents that the group aims to serve. Then, Javier El-Hage of Human Rights Foundation shares about HRF’s important work highlighting the dangerous trend toward autocracy. Finally, Ideas Beyond Borders founder Faisal Saeed Al Mutar discusses how his organization injects the ideas of freedom into the Middle East region.
Below are some of the insights from the episode.
World Liberty Congress
The World Liberty Congress has the ambitious goal of ending dictatorship around the world by 2050. WLC brings together dissidents from autocracies around the world to develop strategies for turning these nations toward democracy.
Leopoldo Lopez is one of the founders of WLC, and knows first-hand the dangers of crossing a ruthless dictator. Despite success in business and politics in Venezuela, he ultimately ended up on the wrong side of the nation’s autocratic leader, Nicolas Maduro. After years in prison, solitary confinement, and house arrest, he now continues the fight in Spain.
As Leopoldo says of the work, “this is not an ideological conflict between the right and the left, conservatives or liberals. It’s much more core to the essentials of what it is to be free or not free. It’s a confrontation between autocracy and democracy.”
WLC believes that the learnings from one county can be applied to others. It can be a “very lonely battle” when pushing against established dictators. Leopoldo shares how WLC’s work helps dissidents and – as well as their families, which are especially affected – and also shares thoughts on the double edged sword of cryptocurrency as a funding tool.
Human Rights Foundation
The Human Rights Foundation has played a pivotal role in helping Western democracies understand the true costs of and extreme dangers posed by these autocratic states around the world.
As Javier El-Hage, HRF’s chief legal and policy officer, explains, the group is focused on “the gateway kind of rights. These are freedom of expression, freedom to participate politically, to elect your government and to be elected, freedom of association, these basic negative rights from the Enlightens thought tradition.”
We too often take these for granted in America and other democracies, but they are precious and scarce to 72% of the world’s population.
One danger Javier notes is a rising sense of democratic leaders of one political persuasion or another cozying up to autocrats who are similarly on the right or left. HRF is agnostic toward the sort of government a nation has so long as it is democratic and not autocratic. Javier notes that HRF would prefer nations join with other liberal countries of different political stripes than with autocratic leaders.
HRF may be best known for its annual Oslo Freedom Forum, which highlights the value of democracy and the dangers of autocracy. Javier notes that the main attractions for the event are the dissidents – the “heroes” – who come and speak – or, in too many cases, their families, since so many dissidents are held as political prisoners.
Ideas Beyond Borders
Javier noted that there was essentially only one democracy, Israel, in the Middle East Region. It is that volatile area where Ideas Beyond Borders takes its message of liberty. Started by Faisal Saeed Al Mutar after coming to America from Iraq and time living in other Middle Eastern nations, the organization began as a “knowledge incubator.”
Five years in, IBB has more than 8.5 million subscribers to its work across the region. But those subscribers, who were discovering the works of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and others through Faisal’s efforts, were asking for me.
Inspired by Tyler Cowen and the Mercatus Center’s Emergent Ventures effort, IBB began giving small but meaningful donations to social entrepreneurs throughout the region.
Faisal explains, “As of now, we have supported a combination of really 200, I think, 250 businesses and startups across the region and they range from kind like a mini uber that hires women…to craftsmen who are trying to sell their products not just in Iraq but across the region…that eventually ended up creating so many jobs for refugees and low-income people.”
Faisal also shares the work IBB does to support women in the region and discusses whether or not we can trace many of the anti-liberal beliefs back to religious conflict in the area.
You can listen to the full episode with the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. Simply search for “Giving Ventures.”
