Why do the good guys keep losing? That was the question that haunted your Global View columnist last week at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. The annual gathering was initiated in 2018 by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Danish prime minister and secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Democracy Summit, whose American associates in past years have ranged from the Carter Center to the George W. Bush Institute, represents what people once called the vital center in Western politics.
For many summit participants, including Danes furious at 鈥檚 demands for Greenland, the great global dangers to democracy are Mr. Trump, Xi Jinping and . Many were mourning 鈥檚 defeat in the 2024 elections; others worried about strong showings by Trump-friendly parties across much of Europe.