AUTOCRATS VS. DEMOCRATS

Democracy now, more than ever.

McFaul, professor of international studies at Stanford, was ambassador to Russia under President Obama, so he speaks from experience and marshals more facts, statistics, and personalities than many in his field. China and Russia were autocratic when our republic was born, the author points out, but monarchs ruled almost everywhere, so our early leaders rarely criticized them. Relations waxed and waned until after 1945, when, seemingly locked in implacable communist hostility, they became America’s enemies. Overestimating Soviet power as well as the appeal of communism across the world, the U.S. regularly supported corrupt dictators who proclaimed their anticommunism and threw its weight around in wars purportedly to spread democracy. Economically tiny compared to China, Russia has become pugnacious, obsessed with restoring its great power status, and bitterly hostile—this will come as no surprise to most readers. China’s miraculous growth killed the myth that prospering nations become democratic, but, intriguingly, McFaul warns us not to overrate China as we did the USSR. He notes that China’s economy is faltering and that nine out of 10 of the world’s richest nations are democracies. The U.S. has dozens of allies; China and Russia make do with North Korea and Iran. McFaul finds it discouraging that President Trump does not extol democracy or denounce Chinese and Russian human rights violations. Instead, the president praises their leaders, belittles U.S. allies, and has withdrawn from treaties and other efforts at international cooperation. McFaul writes, “Our adversaries clearly understand the benefits of our domestic disunity and, at times, have meddled in American politics to exacerbate these divisions.” However, he concludes on a hopeful note: “We overcame divisions in the 1960s and 1970s and renewed American democracy….It took a long time, but we eventually healed after our tragic Civil War. Renewal in America is not only possible, but history suggests it is probable.”

An insightful and vigorous argument for democracy in a world of new threats—not all foreign.