Book Club - Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum

From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else. Despotic leaders do not rule alone; they rely on political allies, bureaucrats, and media figures to pave their way and support their rule.

The authoritarian and nationalist parties that have arisen within modern democracies offer new paths to wealth or power for their adherents. Applebaum describes many of the new advocates of illiberalism in countries around the world, showing how they use conspiracy theory, political polarization, social media, and even nostalgia to change their societies. Elegantly written and urgently argued, Twilight of Democracy is a brilliant dissection of a world-shaking shift and a stirring glimpse of the road back to democratic values.

About the Author

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Senior Fellow at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Agora Institute, where she co-directs Arena, a program dedicated to overcoming the challenges of disinformation and polarization. She has served as a foreign correspondent with The Economist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and in editorial roles for several major publications. She is the author of three critically acclaimed and award-winning histories of the Soviet Union: Red Famine, Iron Curtain, and Gulag, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The National Review, The Guardian, and numerous other publications.