Despots of the world, unite!

For starters, the host country, Qatar, which has now taken over the presidency of this conference, is no democracy. Qatar is run by an Emir, and New York-based Freedom House notes that “Qataris cannot change their government democratically.” And while the guest list does include some genuine democrats and dissidents, the organizers have also arranged to include officials from a roster of countries where democracy is neither “new” nor “restored,” for the simple reason that there isn’t any. Among the countries sending official representatives are Zimbabwe, Cuba, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Togo, Cameroon, Vietnam, and Sudan… (it almost starts to sound like your average meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. Or for that matter, the UN General Assembly in New York… so why bother flying everyone to Doha?).