Narges Mohammadi: “What It Means to Lose Democracy”

Democracy is not a gift or a fact; It is the hard -won result of generations of struggle, sacrifice and resistance. This is why I believe that democratic ideals and institutions must be fiercely protected – all -terrain, by all of us, at any time.

For years, I have talked about the ups and downs of this path in Iran, my own country, our hopes for democracy and the solidarity that we are looking for with democratic institutions and human rights around the world. But today, I speak like someone who sounded an alarm, like the one who knows with experience what it means to lose democracy – not slowly, but almost overnight.

I would like to remind you that the rights and freedoms you could hold for granted are not guaranteed. They can be eroded if they did not actively protect. Whether you feel it or not, you too are engaged in the same fragile struggle: the defense of democracy and human rights. Perhaps this reflection, born of experience and resistance, can play a small role in strengthening what we are all to lose. And perhaps, in this shared vulnerability, we will come to what extent we are connected more deeply.

We consider ourselves your partners in the defense of democracy – not only because our future is linked, but because the existence of democracy in the West has long been a source of hope and inspiration, a guidance model for those who still fight for that elsewhere. When democracy is weakened in a part of the world, it sends shock waves in the hope of people around the world who always fight to achieve it.

From the time when only men could vote and maintain power, the long fight that led women to gain equal rights; From the time when the color of the skin justified slavery, when people of all races, sex and history could lead a nation, democracy was shaped by the struggle. And this struggle never really ends. This is what gives meaning to our shared humanity and draws the promise that tomorrow can be fairer than today.

This is why the growing fragility of democracy in the world should alarm us all. When the foundations of democracy are weakened even in the West, it threatens not only political systems, but a whole way of life built on dignity, freedom and solidarity. I say that as someone who experienced his collapse – who was made a stranger in his own country and who resisted religious tyranny and gender apartheid. Do not believe the myth that history only progresses. If you do not act today – with clarity and an emergency – you can wake up tomorrow in a world where the very idea of ​​democracy has disappeared and realize too late that your silence has helped to erase it.

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Just look at what happens to the media and freedom of expression. Once the fourth pillar of democracy is the fourth pillar – essential for transparency and responsibility – it is, in many cases, to transform a tool to manipulate public opinion: a vehicle of fear, hatred and silence of the truth.

Or look at universities. These institutions were to be sanctuaries of knowledge, curiosity and intellectual freedom. In Iran, we call them “the bastions of freedom”. But today, even some of these spaces lose their independence – dissemination arenas for power struggles, where the truth is sacrificed to political or financial agendas, and the ethical foundations of education and research are attacked.

Let’s step back and consider globalization. For years, we have seen it as a triumph – the rupture of barriers, the sharing of ideas, the fusion of cultures. But what we are witnessing now is not the overthrow of globalization is its backlash. When globalization has been applied from above, mainly motivated by economic interests and the expansion of the market, with little consideration for social justice, shared values ​​or real dialogue, it has created fractures. Yes, some visible walls have fallen, but those invisible have risen in their place. What Americans now see at their borders is only the expression of surface of deeper divisions that have been built for years.

Now let’s move on to another step back to the very idea of ​​the parliamentary – governmental democracy of the people, by the people, for the people. Isn’t it true that, in some cases, it is dug from the inside? I remember the words of Immanuel Kant: “The greatest evil occurs when a concept is destroyed in the name of this same concept.” So how do we make sure that institutions such as the media, universities and elections remain faithful to their objective – the opportunity of people, protecting rights and progressing freedom?

Maybe these questions seem basic to you. But in Iran, they are distant hopes. Our state media have always been a spokesperson for power. Our universities have always been under the control of the state. Most recently, the spokesperson for the judiciary said that “violence, like terrorism, is a Western concept” – openly rejecting universal values. Regarding democratic institutions and peaceful transitions of power, we have not even started yet.

And it is precisely because of the distance between our worlds – and a place of deep sincerity – that I offer this not as a complaint, but as a warning. These are alarm ringtones. Yes, river on the trench by trench is essential, but it is not enough. Today’s global crises are closely linked: war, poverty, climate collapse, gender oppression, systemic racism, increase in authoritarianism, religious extremism, economic inequalities. Together, they form a single complete global crisis.

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The unhappy truth is as follows: the current framework for Western democratic systems does not seem to be prepared on the scale and the complexity of this challenge. If democratic governments continue to respond with fragmented solutions and issued by problem – without a coherent and collective strategy – we will all face the accelerated erosion of democracy.

We know what defeat looks like. In places like Iran, it is a familiar companion. Unlike systems where victory is often the main objective, we have learned to survive defeat, learn and continue. And yes, no more backhands will come. But this struggle is not lost – and we are not helpless.

Democracy, at best, is self-body. He can learn from his mistakes, regenerate from zero and strengthen by inclusion. It offers the widest space for participation. And on this road, we are walking guided by a shared compass: freedom (individual and collective), equality (of opportunity and dignity) and solidarity (in particular with vulnerable and silence).

It may be time to imagine a new future for global democracy – one rooted not in the preservation of old power structures, but in the full potential of democratic ideals. Because democracy is weakened when too much attention is paid to the power of the state. In geopolitical games, each state seeks to win by taking more. But in the world of civil society, we win by giving more.