In his closing remarks before the recent midterm election, President Joe Biden said, "In our bones, we know democracy is at risk."

Just three weeks earlier, he had rushed to congratulate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president-elect of Brazil, to bolster a peaceful transition of power. More recently, a coup attempt was foiled in Germany at the same time the Peruvian president was impeached and arrested for allegedly staging a coup to extend his stay in power. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens have protested COVID-19 lockdowns and demonstrated for the chance to have a say in how their county is run.

All these events illustrate one thing: Democracy, here at home and abroad, is facing an existential threat. If coups, political unrest, political violence and election rigging were things that we used to hear about on the news from other corners of the world, from what we called "the Third World," we are all a Third World now. We can no longer take our democracy for granted, as the events of Jan. 6 showed.

Autocrats across the world are united in their belief that their oppressive model is triumphing, as shown recently when China's Xi Jinping said autocracy is the wave of the future. To counter this threat, the U.S. must aggressively aid democracy abroad and take all necessary measures to safeguard democracy at home. This can be done by providing support to democratic regimes around the globe, assisting pro-democracy movements everywhere with technical skills and all necessary supportive tools, and confronting autocratic regimes when they crack down on democracy advocates.

Many pro-democracy activists are rightly skeptical about the United States' credibility, because the government selectively supports democracy when doing so is convenient or serves America's national interest. It is going to take a lot of work to regain trust, but the U.S. has no choice other than to go all-in for fostering democracy globally to save its own at home.

The U.S. can and should play a proactive role promoting democracy globally. Just this past week, the U.S. hosted a U.S./Africa summit. Reportedly, this meeting zeroed in on trade, geopolitics and countering Chinese, Russian and Turkish influence. This is important, as Chinese trade with Africa hit $261 billion last year, while U.S. trade with Africa was $64 billion.

Africa's population is projected to account for one-quarter of the world's people by 2050, and the continent's huge reserves of rare minerals will be needed to power the electric vehicles of the future.

But what was missing from this summit were any agenda items on democracy and good governance, despite the fact that corruption and autocracy are some of the biggest obstacles to Africa's prosperity and stability in places like Congo.

Centering democracy in U.S. foreign policy would serve the U.S. best in the long run despite expected challenges in the near future. Many brutal dictators receive notable U.S. aid. The U.S. can and should tie this support to pro-democracy reforms such as releasing political prisoners, allowing a free press and freedom of assembly.

Furthermore, many dictators have real estate and financial assets in the U.S. or visit America as medical tourists; others rely on the U.S. security umbrella. The U.S. should use all these levers to make pro-democracy demands.

Surely dictators and autocratic regimes will resist such asks and forge ties with China and Russia — as they have already done — to avoid any meaningful democratization process. But the future indeed is for democracy as even Chinese and Russians have demonstrated courageous democratic aspirations. The U.S. must dare to lead in this global struggle for democracy and human rights.

Abdirahman Muse represents District 8 on the Metropolitan Council and is executive director of the Awood Center, a community organization in Minnesota's East African community.