Autocrats vs. democrats China, Russia, America, and the new global disorder

Foreign policy expert and former ambassador to Russia McFaul (From Cold War to Hot Peace, 2018) writes that great power competition in international relations is back, but there is not necessarily a new Cold War. A reinvigorated Russia, a rising China, Iran, and North Korea are working against the American-led liberal international order of multilateral organizations based on the rule of law and human rights. McFaul compares and contrasts the histories of each autocratic power, their bilateral relations with the U.S., the state of economic and military power compared to that of the U.S. and other democracies, and the strength of their ideological systems. While acknowledging the current adoption of isolationism and protectionism in America, McFaul presents a number of policy changes and renewed goals for future American leaders to strive for in confronting challenges from the autocratic bloc. Autocrats vs. Democrats is a detailed compendium of current foreign policy issues that, while serious, are not insurmountable if, McFaul explains, the U.S. can overcome partisan polarization and regain the conviction and wherewithal to act in defense of democracy and humanitarianism.

A democratic America must carefully confront malignant autocrats according to this wonkish survey of international relations. McFaul (From Cold War to Hot Peace), former U.S. ambassador to Russia, sees the world as caught in a standoff between a fraying, U.S.-led liberal democratic global order and its two great antagonists, autocrat-helmed China and Russia. But the greatest threat to America, McFaul contends, is President Trump, himself a would-be autocrat, who has acted in myriad ways to destabilize the global order abroad while undermining democracy at home. McFaul's portraits of Russia and China are canny and measured: he thinks neither poses an existential threat to the U.S., and suggests that they can be contained by American military upgrades, cautious diplomacy, and a liberal internationalism that's engaged, muscular, and embedded in multilateral institutions. For America's part, McFaul sketches out a vast and technocratic policy agenda that covers everything from anti-ship missiles for Taiwan's defense to the folly of university funding cuts and the necessity of making American elections a national holiday. McFaul's ideas, especially when it comes to American domestic policy, sometimes feel tone-deaf. (His suggestion that American companies be encouraged to invest more capital in foreign countries to counter Chinese investment is sure to go over badly with cash-strapped American voters.) Still, this makes an insightful and stimulating case for a calm but resolute stance toward Russia and China. (Oct.)

Democracy now, more than ever. McFaul, professor of international studies at Stanford, was ambassador to Russia under President Obama, so he speaks from experience and marshals more facts, statistics, and personalities than many in his field. China and Russia were autocratic when our republic was born, the author points out, but monarchs ruled almost everywhere, so our early leaders rarely criticized them. Relations waxed and waned until after 1945, when, seemingly locked in implacable communist hostility, they became America's enemies. Overestimating Soviet power as well as the appeal of communism across the world, the U.S. regularly supported corrupt dictators who proclaimed their anticommunism and threw its weight around in wars purportedly to spread democracy. Economically tiny compared to China, Russia has become pugnacious, obsessed with restoring its great power status, and bitterly hostile--this will come as no surprise to most readers. China's miraculous growth killed the myth that prospering nations become democratic, but, intriguingly, McFaul warns us not to overrate China as we did the USSR. He notes that China's economy is faltering and that nine out of 10 of the world's richest nations are democracies. The U.S. has dozens of allies; China and Russia make do with North Korea and Iran. McFaul finds it discouraging that President Trump does not extol democracy or denounce Chinese and Russian human rights violations. Instead, the president praises their leaders, belittles U.S. allies, and has withdrawn from treaties and other efforts at international cooperation. McFaul writes, "Our adversaries clearly understand the benefits of our domestic disunity and, at times, have meddled in American politics to exacerbate these divisions." However, he concludes on a hopeful note: "We overcame divisions in the 1960s and 1970s and renewed American democracy….It took a long time, but we eventually healed after our tragic Civil War. Renewal in America is not only possible, but history suggests it is probable." An insightful and vigorous argument for democracy in a world of new threats--not all foreign. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.