Opinion | Why democracy vs autocracy isn’t the definitive contest shaping the world

What is the fundamental contradiction shaping our world today? Some might say it’s the dichotomy between democracy and autocracy – a staple of former US president Joe Biden’s world view. However, that perspective seems outdated.

Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, is well known for being transactional. Last month he said Washington would lift sanctions on Syria, although the country’s new government hasn’t put it on the path to democracy. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has pitched a slew of positive perks, including a Trump Tower in Damascus.

Also, Trump’s eagerness for the US to accept the gift of a luxury Boeing 747-8 from Qatar, hardly a bastion of democracy, for use as Air Force One has raised questions about what is expected in return.

Meanwhile, the United States’ squeeze on academic freedoms – as evidenced by threats to revoke visas for Chinese students and international students harbouring divergent views – speaks volumes of a dystopian new normal. One would think democratic norms should encompass the embracing of pluralism and difference.

An alternative reading would suggest that our times are marked by a struggle between the Global North – comprising more advanced and affluent economies – and the Global South.

Yet this view ignores the existence of clear schisms within the Global South. For instance, neighbours India and China have a fraught relationship, despite positioning themselves as leaders among emerging powers. The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s 2025 State of Southeast Asia Survey found that trust in the US has increased among policy elites in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member states despite Trump’s return. South China Sea tensions were the top geopolitical problem for 51.6 per cent of those surveyed.