Garry Kasparov, Vice-President of World Liberty Congress, pro-democracy leader, author, and former world chess champion, delivered the opening address at the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025.
Full Remarks:
Thank you to the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, and especially to Hillel Neuer, for having me here. And thank you for promoting me with such an easy question: “What is the state of democracy in the world today?”
I would love to say that “Democracy is doing great!” These would be very brief remarks, and we could take a coffee break.
Unfortunately, that isn’t reality. On one hand, democracy is far more common today than in 1963, when I was born in Baku, at the edge of the Soviet empire. But we are also in a moment of upheaval, and the trend lines have been moving in the wrong direction for two decades. Extremists and would-be authoritarians are capturing the institutions of power in the Free World. In Ukraine, Putin’s genocidal invasion is supported by an international coalition stretching from Tehran to Pyongyang. Across the Taiwan Strait, China is already preparing its invasion force.
Yet the advantage still rests in our corner. The Free World is more prosperous, more dynamic, and mightier than our enemies.
In other words, defeat is a choice.
Over the previous year and a half, Israel has demonstrated how a motivated free society can strike a critical blow against the bad guys. Hamas is a shell of the force that existed on October 7, 2023. Hezbollah is in disarray. Israel’s defeat of the so-called Iranian Axis of Resistance crippled support for Bashar al Assad’s dictatorship in Syria. One of the world’s most durable dictatorships, over a half-century old, folded overnight. Dictatorships may look strong, but they are as brittle as glass.
Since February 2022, Ukrainians have been showing that same heroic resolve. What was supposed to be a three-day invasion has gone on for three years. A nation that the establishment in Washington and Brussels refused to believe in has stopped the Russian bear in its tracks.
The Israelis and Ukrainians aren’t fighting only for themselves. Israel is actively denying Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. Almost twenty years ago, Israel destroyed Syria’s nascent nuclear program. And two decades before that, in a daring operation, it did the same in Iraq. Can you imagine a world in which the ayatollahs, or Assad and Saddam before them, had a nuclear bomb?
So it is in Ukraine. Every defeat for Vladimir Putin keeps American, British, and German troops out of harm’s way in a potential war with NATO over Poland or the Baltics. And every North Korean brigade the Ukrainians destroy means millions in Seoul can rest easier.
Impressive as that all is, these conflicts could have been over already—with decisive democratic victories—if the Free World would not fight with one hand tied behind its back.
There are many factors contributing to this excess of caution—not to say cowardice. One is the state of our international institutions. In a perversion of history, the United Nations—the successor of the grand coalition that smashed Naziism—has been hijacked by a modern-day rogues’ gallery. Iran, Russia, and China have created a purgatory of false equivalency on 42nd Street in New York City and here in Geneva.
From their pulpit in the General Assembly Hall, the world’s worst despots tell us that the democracies of the world—America, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Israel—are no better than they are. Maybe even worse!
An institution created to foster the values of the Free World now has the world’s democracies bogged down in bureaucratic mud with its sworn enemies. An organization conceived to prevent war now ignites war behind a veneer of legitimacy—and I mean this literally. There is hard evidence that UN personnel took part in the October 7 attack.
In his famous Iron Curtain speech of 1946, Winston Churchill warned us that international institutions were at risk of descending into, quote, “a frothing of words… a cockpit in a Tower of Babel.” I fear he was being overly optimistic.
When the rot runs so deep, we are approaching the question of replacing the UN rather than merely reforming it.
Fortunately, there are ready alternatives.
I am the founder of an organization called the World Liberty Congress, an alliance of brave democracy advocates from more than 60 autocratic countries. My other organization, the Renew Democracy Initiative, also unites political dissidents from around the world, with a focus on revitalizing the Free World’s survival instinct.
The harrowing stories these leaders share paint a stark contrast to the canned speeches we hear from regime representatives at the UN. When the Iranians carry on in their lies about the “Great Satan,” my friend Masih Alinejad can tell you about the reality of gender apartheid under the Islamic Republic. When the Venezuelan dictatorship attacks American democracy, let them hear from Leopoldo Lopez about real stolen elections. And when the Russians spew propaganda that they are the defenders of freedom, fighting fascism in Ukraine, I have a few words about what “democracy” and fascism looks like under Vladimir Putin.
To combat this authoritarian tide, the nations of the Free World must band together. The late Senator John McCain once proposed a League of Democracies, a coalition of free nations that can work together to confront our common challenges.
To quote Senator McCain—a League of Democracies “could bring concerted pressure to bear against tyrants… with or without Moscow’s and Beijing’s approval.” This coalition would enable victory over dictatorship and terrorism, not merely criticize it. It would rally the Free World’s resources behind Ukraine for victory, instead of pushing for a doomed compromise with the aggressor. And this coalition would give voice to the free and independent nation of Taiwan, not perpetuate the “One China” fiction. Meeting evil halfway is still a victory for evil.
I know that after eight decades, such a sharp break with the UN can be difficult to imagine, even among a critical audience such as yourselves. Some may be tempted to label this vision as unrealistic idealism. But uniting around mutual interests and shared values is a far more realistic foundation for global peace and stability than naivete that has cultivated the theater of the absurd we call the United Nations.
The Free World still has the advantage economically, militarily, and in the creativity that requires freedom of thought and the ability to express it like we are doing here today. What we too often lack is unity, and the resolve to press these advantages. Our enemies are not so hesitant or forgiving.
Today’s forecast may look dark, but our destiny is not like the weather. We can take action. We can control our fate, and our collective energy will make tomorrow brighter. Thank you.
17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, U.N. Opening, Monday, February 17, 2025
Key Quotes:
“No dictatorship is legitimate, because legitimacy comes from the people. Legitimacy comes from recognizing the rights and humanity and security of the people.
“The United Nations has failed to uphold the terms in the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights]. It has failed, but we must not. We must unite. We must act. I welcome you all in this shared fight.”
