The End of Democracy?: Russia and China on the Rise, America in Retreat

by Douglas E. Schoen

IMMEDIATE GLOBAL THREAT TO ALL DEMOCRATIC NATIONS BY THE CHINA-RUSSIA AXIS

America’s future has never seemed more uncertain. Our politics are dysfunctional; our cultural cohesion is a thing of the past; our institutions have lost legitimacy; and our identity as Americans seems increasingly subordinate to tribal or ideological identities. Overhanging all these issues is a loss of confidence in democracy itself, both in America and around the world, and the concomitant rise of authoritarianism as a viable model of governance in the eyes of millions. At the center of this story are two nations—Russia and China—that together stand as a profound challenge to the American and Western future, and to the future of democracy and human rights around the globe. As America unravels, China and Russia have taken every opportunity to expand their opportunities and consolidate their gains. If the United States is to prevail in this struggle, our efforts must begin with a better understanding of our determined adversaries in Beijing and Moscow—and of how their successes have emboldened the cause of authoritarianism around the world, to the detriment of free societies and free people.



HIGH PRAISE FOR DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN

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“A remarkably comprehensive analysis of the challenges—internal and external—that we face today. Schoen is able to write intelligently about domestic and international issues alike, weaving them into one worrisome picture of the world… Well worth reading.”
—Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and author of The Post-American World

Putin’s Master Plan

“Peace and security are deteriorating across Europe not only because of the heightened terrorist threat, but also because of a toxic mix of Russian belligerence and NATO weakness. In this timely analysis, Douglas Schoen argues convincingly that American leadership remains key to peace in Europe, as it has for over seventy years.”
—John Bolton, Former National Security Advisor and bestselling author of The Room Where It Happened

America in the Age of Trump

"… a terrific read, engaging and richly sourced, a provocative take on big, controversial issues and on political leaders... especially powerful regarding the loss of trust in institutions… it will challenge you to think critically about your own views and justify your idea of the American future."
—Bob Shrum, Democratic strategist and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California

Genres: Nonfiction

250 pages, Paperback

Published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy is a relentless catastrophizer if you look through his biography. I imagine getting up every morning as Douglas Schoen is either a gueling, difficult task, for fear that the world and his country will simply collapse, or an exciting new opportunity to giddily scream about catastrophic drama happening to other people. Really though the tone of this book at time (particularly the introduction) reminds me of a guy I used to know named Marty who retired in 2015 and spent 4 years (certainly longer but we stopped talking) doing nothing except doom scrolling on Facebook and Twitter and gorging 24/7 on MSNBC until he was just a shrieking, paranoid shell of himself that nobody liked anymore. This is what that book was like at times.

I agree with most of the basic tenets - I'm hawkish with foreign policy in general but want to see the US become a more responsible global presence. While I've been to China and enjoyed myself greatly pre-Xi, their current government is an atrocity and a threat to many countries' national security, not just the US's. Russia is even worse. This was a pretty good and politically neutral (in the Republican-Democrat sense) geopolitical examination of these two powers and how they're adapting their foreign policy.

But even me with my hawkishness was really taken aback by things like his medium-key support for the idea that China developed the coronavirus as a bioweapon. I mean it's obvious that it leaked from a lab but insinuating that they did it deliberately is so insane that it's deeply offensive and it's very hard to get me to be offended on behalf of the Chinese government.

With regard to the Russian angle, it's a bit frustrating that this was published shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, because that would have contributed a lot to the development of his thesis and the context of this overall, and undoubtedly he would have revised some of his predicitons about Russia given how stunningly inept they proved to be militarily. That's not a criticism of the author - that surprised literally everyone.

I basically liked this book, hence a 4, because it served up an enormous amount of hot tea and IR tea is my favorite. However the occasionally hysterical Marty-like tenor of it and the willingness to give oxygen to outrageous conspiracy theories makes it so that I can't possibly rate it higher than that. Things like quoting known China catastrophist and professional silly person Gordon Chang saying things like we should fully economically decouple from China makes it hard to take this book seriously at times. But for someone with enough knowledge of international relations and current events to parse this and extract thse good stuff, it was a good read. (the other reviewer who called it "unbelievable rubbish" and left it at that is not a particularly studious person, I think)

I also appreciated that it was non-partisan and written from a fairly hawkish but still pragmatic perspective. The idea being put forward is pro-US and in favor of responsible US force projection, and is the antithesis of both the alternatingly bombastic and isolationist trends in the Republican party, as well as the limp and complacent attitude of the Democrats. But it provides rigorous criticism of how multiple administrations have failed American foreign policy ideals. I appreciate that the book is written constructively with the desire to be better.

[Bill Perrin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievable rubbish.