Dr Oliver Hartwich on Different Matters

In 'Twilight of Democracy,' Anne Applebaum explores the rise of authoritarianism and nationalism in modern democracies. She argues that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit loyal adherents to the exclusion of others. The book examines how despotic leaders rely on allies, bureaucrats, and media figures to support their rule and how modern authoritarian parties offer new paths to wealth and power. Applebaum draws on historical examples, including Stalinist central Europe and Nazi Germany, and investigates contemporary phenomena such as conspiracy theories, social media, and nostalgia. She warns that democracies are fragile and their survival depends on daily choices made by both elites and ordinary people.

In this book, Jonathan Haidt draws on twenty-five years of research on moral psychology to explain why people's moral judgments are driven by intuition rather than reason. He introduces the Moral Foundations Theory, which posits that human morality is based on six foundations: care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation, and liberty/oppression. Haidt argues that liberals tend to focus on the care/harm and fairness/cheating foundations, while conservatives draw on all six. The book also explores how morality binds and blinds people, leading to social cohesion but also to conflicts. Haidt aims to promote understanding and civility by highlighting the commonalities and differences in moral intuitions across political spectra.

In 'Autocracy, Inc.', Anne Applebaum provides a detailed analysis of how modern autocracies operate, highlighting their sophisticated networks of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists. These autocratic regimes, spanning countries like China, Russia, and Iran, collaborate across borders to maintain power and undermine democracy. Applebaum argues that international condemnation and economic sanctions are ineffective against these autocrats and calls for democracies to fundamentally reorient their policies to combat this new threat. The book serves as both a historical investigation and a practical guide for defending democratic values against the rising tide of autocracy.