April 30—How does the Global South respond to video footage circulating on social media of police arresting dozens of students and teachers participating in political demonstrations that are sometimes large, often boisterous, but so far almost entirely non-violent? What nation will not snicker at a lecture coming from the United States about free expression and democracy? How can demands for international observance of a “rules-based order” be squared with the outrageous violations of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution through the actions of political leaders—from the White House, to Congress, to state executives and legislators, to a leading presidential candidate—who demand that protests be shut down, on the basis of the views expressed?
