Officials in the U.S. state of Georgia have warned of likely Russian interference in the U.S. election—even as the country of Georgia struggles with Russian interference in its own recent vote.
To be sure, things are worse in Georgia, Russia’s unfortunate neighbor, than in Georgia, Florida’s unfortunate neighbor. But Russian interference isn’t the only way it can be hard to tell the two Georgias apart. Both, for example, have also produced men sometimes called history’s greatest monsters.
A quick game—can you tell which Georgia is which in the following headlines?
“Georgia has introduced dangerous new restrictions to abortion access.”
“Georgia: Police must be held accountable for use of excessive force against protesters.”
“Georgia victims of police brutality tell the U.N. their story.”
“Anxiety runs deep in Georgia as voters worry about heated rhetoric spurring violence.”
“Violence mars voting in Georgia’s pivotal election.”
These similarities matter. The Achilles’s heel of U.S. efforts to promote democracy and human rights abroad has always been America’s failures to deliver them domestically. During the Cold War, when Washington was protesting that Georgia was a “captive nation” and a police state, millions of Black Americans in Georgia lived under a de facto police state themselves.
The stock Soviet reply to human rights criticisms from Washington was: “And you are lynching Negroes.” That line was self-serving hypocrisy, but it was also true. Many Americans linked the civil rights struggle at home to the call for freedom abroad; others, such as Georgia Sen. Herman Talmadge, compared the federal enforcement of civil rights to Soviet oppression.
Today, if the United States once more sees attempts to overturn the election in Georgia, Washington will have a hard time calling for fair elections in Georgia.
This post is part of FP’s live coverage with global updates and analysis throughout the U.S. election. Follow along here.
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