By Xhabir Deralla
The fireworks are over. The parade banners have been rolled up. The speeches have been delivered. America has celebrated 250 years of independence, a quarter of a millennium since it declared that liberty, equality and government by consent were not privileges granted by rulers, but rights belonging to the people.
And then comes the next day.
That one day after may matter more than the anniversary itself. At least in our time.
Because democracies are neither built nor preserved by ceremonies. They are preserved by citizens, institutions, responsible politicians and principled professionals.
By the stubborn refusal to surrender freedom to fear, propaganda, corruption, indifference, authoritarianism or oligarchy.
The 250th anniversary is not only a celebration of American independence. It is also a moment for responsible and sober reflection. Every republic must be renewed the day after it celebrates itself.
Two hundred and fifty years is history. Two hundred and fifty years and one day is responsibility.
This responsibility does not rest with America alone. Across the Atlantic, Europe is watching with concern and uncertainty. In Ukraine, people are fighting not only for their country’s survival, but for the very principle of freedom. Meanwhile, the so-called multipolar world is being shaped not only by diplomacy and markets, but also by war, disinformation, corruption and authoritarian ambition.
In such a world, the erosion of American democracy would not remain a domestic issue, no matter how self-centered the current “America First” policies may be. It would reverberate across the fragile architecture of democracy and democratic solidarity far beyond America’s borders — from Kyiv to Brussels, from the Western Balkans to the African continent, and across every society still resisting the return of empires.
The United States of America stands at a crossroads. Its citizens, political leaders and business powers now face a choice: whether they want to live in a country held by a crude authoritarian, oligarchic and imperial grip on a changing world, or in a country that remains one of the global leaders of democracy, freedom, equality and solidarity.
Judging by the way the United States is developing today, one may only fear that the America the world has known for 250 years (or at least for the last several decades) is in serious danger.
And the danger comes from within.
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