To our teachers in the West: What’s the next lesson you want to give us?

One of the finest comments I read about last week’s presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was a post on social media site X that said: “Watching Trump and Biden is like following the final years of the Roman Empire.”

This is an eloquent post. Indeed, the US has risen to heights unprecedented in Western history; many even argue that its might is historically unprecedented. The world has never previously known an empire that has dominated the entire globe’s land, sea, skies, space and cyberspace, as the US does today.

American fleets roam the seas and oceans, the US has military bases in every continent, its ballistic missiles can strike any target on Earth and its satellites and cyber technologies monitor our every move in real time.

Moreover, this powerful nation is home to thousands of institutions of higher learning and research centers, among them universities whose endowments are larger than the budgets of entire countries or the pensions of their own state.

As for the US political system, both friend and foe recognize that it is among the most refined inventions conjured up by the human mind, successfully ensuring proper and balanced popular representation among the various components of the country. The Founding Fathers and their successors were keen on striking a balance between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, ensuring a separation of powers that prevented any of them from overwhelming the others.

In sum, this superpower is an exceptional political experiment before being an economic Eden, an oasis of freedom, a war machine ... and, of course, also a laboratory of science, research, invention and development.

Tens of millions of people worldwide followed a debate that I claim does not represent the best of what the US has to offer

Eyad Abu Shakra

Nonetheless, tens of millions of people worldwide followed a debate that I claim does not represent the best of what the US has to offer. It is difficult to wrap our heads around how a democratic political system, theoretically based on free choice, has failed to produce better options than Biden and Trump.

It is inconceivable that this nation is so barren that it could not find a Democratic candidate in better cognitive and physical condition than Biden or a Republican who behaves better and has a clearer record than Trump.

It is impossible, in this vast, vibrant country, which has a passion for fitness and sports, not to find radiating youths ready to confidently carry the party torch, introduce fresh blood and propose visionary and creative ideas that go beyond electoral bribes (especially tax cuts), empty promises, sectarian bickering and populist bidding wars. It is difficult to fathom how new ranks have not risen to address the collapse of logic in how the Democrats have dealt with questions of gender and how the shame around racial questions has collapsed among Republicans.

Some Democratic politicians — with a degree of hypocrisy, I would argue — have publicly expressed their astonishment at Biden’s poor performance. However, this astonishment is what should actually astonish us, given what we have seen from the president in recent years. Despite this and despite the significant procedural complexities involved, I would personally not rule out the possibility of Democrats working behind the scenes to find a dignified way out that allows Biden to maintain what remains of his reputation.

I believe that most Democrats — both politicians and voters — have now realized that choosing to charge ahead has become suicidal. Thus, they must come up with a sensible formula for choosing a horse that can win the race — a formula for sidelining the very disappointing Vice President Kamala Harris without angering the party’s Black supporters.

On the Republican side, Biden’s poor performance could fuel Trump’s arrogance and bolster his supporters’ confidence, pushing them to take their confrontational and negationist populist policies even further. Trump’s presidency has taught us that he does not distinguish between friend and foe, recognize principles and rules or adhere to customs and follow regulations. And the world is on a perilous path toward extremism everywhere.

Even the bastions of institutional democracy in Western Europe are no longer immune to populist thuggery, blatant racism and brazen fanaticism.

France, which has just had its first round of legislative elections, could be the first fruit to fall if the extremists of the National Rally triumph. In the UK and Germany — where democracy is more robust and less personalized — the political climate is undermining the moderate forces on both the right and the left. And this follows the displacement war on Gaza that has stripped them of any credibility.

In the UK, far-right voters no longer feel the need to hide under the cloak of the Conservative Party. Brexit has shattered the sanctity and the shame around racism. Racists and neo-fascists are now flocking to the Reform UK party, which polls suggest could receive almost as many votes as the Conservatives in this week’s elections. In the other camp, despite the Labour Party being expected to make significant progress, many of its members are dismayed by the current leadership’s opposition to the left. They may either abstain from voting, retaliate or tactically vote for the Liberal Democrats (centrist) or the Greens (environmentalists).

In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany, whose rhetoric stirs neo-Nazi sentiments, has become a force to be reckoned with. It seems that the Christian Democrats (center-right) are unable to curb its rise. Conversely, the credibility of the leftist and liberal forces is rapidly diminishing, most notably the Social Democratic Party, which leads the ruling center-left coalition.

This state of affairs will become far worse and more dangerous after the US elections in November if things remain as they are.

• Eyad Abu Shakra is managing editor of Asharq Al-Awsat. X: @eyad1949