Yurii Stechyshyn is a 2023 McCain Global Leader and a representative (Deputy) at Lviv District Council.
A few weeks ago, I returned from Georgia, where I participated in the 8th Tbilisi International Conference. It’s a great one-of-its-kind platform which allows us to think and reflect on where the world is standing now.
Using the moment, I’m expressing my sincere gratitude to the McCain Institute, the George W. Bush Institute, and the Economic Policy Research Center (GE) for inviting me to the event and being so supportive during my participation there. My colleague Annabel Deegan provided a perfect reflection of what the discussions were all about. In this essay, I’ll concentrate on thoughts and reflections that appealed to me.
First, Western countries do have a crisis of the elites, and the contemporary expression of the “democracy in a recess” approach is a derivative of that. Surely, there’s no universal ideology to fulfill citizens’ needs. However, the ongoing crisis of democracy and values is evident. This makes the Western democracies not in a strong position. If it keeps being like that,democratic systems will become more and more dysfunctional. A solution to that? The elites must act on citizens’ concerns considerably. Time is not our ally.
Second, “escalation” and “provocation” are toxic words. We must always remember that if the West deescalates, its enemies escalate. Talking about Ukraine in this regard, it cannot and won’t win the war if the ongoing approach remains, “We help Ukraine for as long as it takes.” We must shift from “as long as it takes” to prevail and win. We are not there yet. But as one of the panelists said, “Weakness is being exploited.” We must be confident enough in ourselves and our strengths not to let it happen.
Third, the autocratic regimes – namely Russia, Iran, and China – have their strategies for decades to come, while the democratic world operates in the election cycles and over-politicization of everything, including defense and international relations. The autocratic countries help each other prosper and thrive, while the West may seem divided over trade protectionism. We must learn to prosper together again. Western countries, too, need to set long-standing goals and apply strategic over-the-horizon vision, especially on AI, chips/semiconductors, and raw materials for new technologies.
Fourth, the autocratic regimes want to take advantage of the world’s order weakness. In fact, contemporary international rules were created by the Western powers and were universally adopted. As one of the panelists said about the UN, “You cannot blame the UN for its inefficiency; it’s just like a stadium. You must be worried about players instead.” It’s up to the players to have the UN as a working tool. Global democracies must make the world abide by the rules: international, trade and sanctions. Capacity is there. A democratic world has a higher GDP, military spending, and know-how.
Fifth, the West needs to re-establish strategic deterrence via spending more on the military and new technology development. At last, there is an appetite for NATO. The organization is not a brain-dead one. But “we’re declining in our confidence” and “we need to inspire the world, but we’re not doing it.” But we can. And we must.