NEW YORK Moments BESTSELLER

From the former secretary of state and bestselling author — a sweeping look at the global struggle for democracy and just why America must continue steadily to support the cause of human freedom.

‘This heartfelt and sometimes very moving book shows why democracy proponents are so committed to their work…Both supporters and skeptics of democracy promotion will come away from this book wiser and better informed.’ –The New York Times

From the end from the Cold War as well as the collapse about Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom from the Soviet Union towards the ongoing struggle for human rights in the centre East, Condoleezza Rice has served on the front lines of history. As a kid, she was an eyewitness to another awakening of freedom, when her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, became the epicenter of the civil rights movement for black People in america.

With this book, Rice clarifies what these epochal events teach us about democracy. At the same time when people around the world are wanting to know whether democracy is within decline, Rice stocks insights from her encounters as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen, in order to put democracy’s issues into perspective.

When the United States was founded, it had been the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today over fifty percent of all countries meet the criteria as democracies, and in the long run that quantity will continue to grow. Yet nothing worth it ever comes easily. Using America’s very long struggle as a template, Rice draws lessons for democracy all over the world — from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the center East. She finds that no transitions to democracy are the same because every country starts in a different place. Pathways diverge and sometimes circle backward. Time frames for success vary significantly, and countries often suffer false begins before getting it right. But, Grain argues, that does not mean they should not try. While the ideal circumstances for democracy are well known in academia, they never exist in real life. The question isn’t how to make perfect situations but how exactly to move forward under difficult ones.

These same insights apply in overcoming the challenges faced by governments today. The pursuit of democracy is a continuing struggle shared by people all over the world, if they are opposing authoritarian regimes, creating new democratic establishments, or reforming mature democracies to raised surpass their ideals. The task of securing it is never finished.