Bookshelf
Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.
Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman by Charles Dunst ’18
March 15, 2023
Tags Alumni Book
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2023).
The author, deputy director of research and analytics at The Asia Group and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explores how and why autocracy is on the rise, eroding democratic institutions and values. Growing disillusion with current institutions has led some people to ask if authoritarianism is the solution to providing a better life. Dunst disagrees: “Autocracy is not the solution — better democracy is. But we have to make the case for it. We have to combat institutional rot by learning from one another, and, at times, from our rivals. And we have to get our own houses in order. Only then can we effectively stand up for democratic values around the world and defeat the dictators.” As one reviewer noted, this book “offers a brutally honest and incisive account of the contemporary challenge posed by autocracy to democracy today, the dangers of complacency, and how democracies can reverse the illiberal tide. The prescriptions in this book should serve as a wake-up call for all those who care about the shape of political affairs, individual rights, and global security in the 21st century.”
Contact
Stacey Himmelberger
Editor of Hamilton magazine
