America’s stance on human rights and democracy has a global impact – Biden must restore credibility

During the last four years, dictators worldwide gained ever greater latitude for their abuses so long as they maintained good relations with the White House, writes Borzou Daragahi

President-elect Joe Biden delivers a speech the day before Thanksgiving on 25 November (AP)

I was ambivalent about the first US election that took place when I was old enough to vote. What difference would it make if Michael Dukakis or George HW Bush became president?  

A friend took me to task. If Bush were elected, he said, death squads in Latin America would run more rampant. Murderous governments throughout the world would feel more secure and emboldened. “More innocent people will die,” he said.

American advocacy of human rights and democracy has long been laced with a heavy dose of hypocrisy. During the Cold War, the US highlighted abuses by Soviet and pro-Moscow nations, while ignoring and often even supporting violent repression by its own allies, all in the name of combatting the Communist menace.