Scholars and political persons voiced doubts and concerns over U.S.-defined "democracy", saying the concept is full of ideological color and that if the U.S. presses to impose the Western-style democracy on other countries, it will do great harm to the international society.

They made the comments at a time when the U.S. is holding a so-called Summit for Democracy, the second such event organized by the White House, which kicked off on Wednesday.

Alexander Yershov, a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of China and Modern Asia, says the West's definition of democracy is mainly political, and the U.S. government has long been wielding the "democracy" stick to pressure countries and people it doesn't like, so Wednesday's summit is purely "ideological."

He added that summits like this are only one of the ways for the U.S. to wage a "public opinion war".

"The U.S. government organizes such events regularly to make certain remarks and its purpose is to create public opinion influence," said Yershov.

Another researcher at a Kazakhstan think tank believes that all development models must be respected and that imposing one's own development model on other countries will cause great damage.

Rakhim Oshakbayev, director of the Center of Applied Research "TALAP", a think-tank based in Kazakhstan, said that Western politicians often try to monopolize the interpretation of "democracy" and use it to divide the world. And as they believe that only Western "democracy" is right and that other countries' development models are "undemocratic", they always try to change other countries and make them into so-called "democratic countries".

"However, the world today needs diversification and multi-polarization. All development models are necessary and important, and each one has its significance," Oshakbayev said.

Enoch Roosevelt Tonga, the Third Liberation Movement leader of Zambia said that when it comes to democracy, the U.S. is "hypocritical" and is taking double standards as most of what the U.S. has done is based on its interests, never considering the development interests of other countries.

Additionally, according to Reuters, rights activists say there is little evidence that the countries participating in the summit have made progress toward improving their democracies, and there is no formal mechanism to hold participants accountable for the modest commitments made at an earlier meeting.

(Cover image: Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC., January 6, 2021. /CFP)