Larry Diamond - Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition and American Complacency

If the U.S. does not reclaim its traditional place as the keystone of democracy, today's authoritarian trend could become a tsunami that could provide an opening for Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and their admirers to turn the 21st century into a dark time of surging authoritarianism.
How can the U.S. exploit the soft, kleptocratic underbelly of dictatorships? How can the nation reclaim its role as a global leader?
Larry Diamond is a professor of political science and sociology at Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and its Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where he directs the Center for Democracy.