Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will."

This terrifying statement can be found in the first chapter of Anne Applebaum's newest work Twilight of Democracy. The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. Ms. Applebaum, an eminent American-Polish historian and journalist, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Gulag. A History, explains and justifies the statement in her newest book. I an unable to read Gulag as I would probably die of sorrow reading how political ambitions of few people totally destroyed the lives of tens of millions of other people. However, I read and enthusiastically reviewed on Goodreads Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 So I expected a lot from Ms. Applebaum's newest work and I am not disappointed. This is again an extraordinary work, a must read for anyone interested in understanding our world. This is a must read for anyone trying to figure out why populism seems to be winning all over the world while liberal democracy is on its deathbed.

The book begins with a stunning description of a New Year's Eve Party on December 31, 1999, that Ms. Applebaum and her husband held in their house in Chobielin, Poland, for many friends and acquaintances, both English and Polish native speakers. These were the times of great hope. Times when the total triumph of liberal democracy seemed just around the corner. All the guests were "on the same team." They agreed "about democracy, about the road to prosperity, about the way things were going." But then, after almost 20 years, world is in an altogether different place: liberal democracy seems bankrupt, the populist call for authoritarian governments is growing, and scoundrels are in power in many countries, as presidents, prime ministers, or party chairmen.

"[...]nearly two decades later, I would now cross the street to avoid some of the people who were at my New Year's Eve party. They, in turn, would not only refuse to enter my house, they would be embarrassed to admit they had ever been there."

Ms. Applebaum then begins describing the symptoms of the "twilight of democracy." She begins with Poland, then moves to the events and situation in Hungary, England, Spain, and finally the United States. The descriptive layer of the book is superb, rich in facts and acute observations.

But why is this happening? For instance, why do huge segments of societies vote for grossly incompetent and corrupt people to become their leaders? Ms. Applebaum states:

"There is no single explanation, and I will not offer either a grand theory or a universal solution."

Instead, she offers an array of factors that might have aided this dramatic social change. She mentions the people's inability to tolerate complexity, the lure of apparent clarity of simplistic worldview, appeal of powerful symbols and simple language. Finally, she mentions the factor that to me is crucial: the emergence of social media, platforms like Facebook. Ms. Applebaum rightly points out that the advent of social media eliminated "single national conversation" that provided a coherent reading of reality for majority of people. Yet what I find not emphasized strongly enough in the analysis is that social media relativize the concept of truth: everybody's truth counts the same - an expert's or an idiot's spouting conspiracy theories.

The author refers to works of two prominent thinkers: Julien Benda, French philosopher of the first half of the 20th century, and Svetlana Boym, a Russian-born Harvard professor, who worked mostly in the 1990 - 2015 period. From Mr. Benda and his famous book The Treason of the Intellectuals, Ms. Applebaum borrows the concept of "clerks", meaning the intellectuals who betray their high ideals and sell their skills in the service of nationalism, racism, and populism (one of the later passages of the book contains a critique of Mr. Trump's clerks). From Ms. Boym, the author borrows the concept of "restorative nostalgia," the business of nationalist mythmaking, which is creating a simple, unambiguous, cartoon versions of history.

This is a small yet a very important book! I enthusiastically recommend it, even if I am rounding my final rating down to four stars rather than up to five. I am aware of my arrogance in criticizing the author, who for me is an unsurpassed authority on politics and contemporary history and a super talented writer, but I would prefer less Benda and Boym (fascinating reading as it is) but more on the topic of the evil role of the social media in destruction of democracy.

Four-and-a-half stars.

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