There is no doubt that that India under him belongs to the list of the three P autocrats that I described in The Revenge of Power. if that's the case, what we are seeing is an autocrat being very careful and keeping equal distancing from both the United States. India needs a relationship with the United States, but India also wants to be close to Russia for a variety of reasons. So that's why we haven't seen a stronger statement on the part of president Modi or the Indian government. Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. That I guess goes to a final question that we can discuss Moisés, and that is the integration economically between authoritarian countries, like you would consider Russia and democracies. This is such a big conversation, topic of conversation with respect to European integration with Russia's energy market in particular. That has left Europe soft on the human rights questions when it comes to Putin, because they don't want to get their energy supplies cut off or see price go up so much. Byron describes the banking aspect of this that would leave some in Europe vulnerable. Is there a way out of that? Moisés Naím: Well, depends on the definition of that. If that is democracy and European democracy is dealing with the difficult balancing act of imposing sanctions, but making sure that they don't hurt their own populations and businesses and economy in significant ways, that is a very important conversation that I'm sure it has been taking place in the corridors of power in Europe and the United States and elsewhere for a while. Again here, I suggest that instead of looking at the immediate consequences and that Brian mentioned one that is quite important and relevant, which is the debt held by European and international banks of Russian debt.

The first is in maintaining western unity against Putin. This is brought into sharpest relief by next year’s US election. Rarely has a US presidential election contained such divergent possible outcomes for the state of the world. If Biden were re-elected, the world could expect some continuity in US foreign policy until 2028. If Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, were to return to power in 2025 it could destroy western unity. Second, the elite-eye view of politics. This is about those holding formal power. The masses appear from time to time as shapeless blobs of protest, but these soon subside and normal service is resumed. The next time you feel the dark tendrils of revenge creeping into your soul, I want you to take that intensity and put it towards succeeding. The End of Power makes a truly important contribution, persuasively portraying a compelling dynamic of change cutting across multiple game-boards of the global power matrix." — Washington Post At times this becomes a kind of ‘lament of the technocrat’. Naim, a former Venezuelan trade minister and editor of Foreign Policy magazine, asks ‘. ‘At a deeper, more troubling level, the question is why the followers continue to support populists even after there is overwhelming evidence that their promises are empty… [and they] are bent on concentrating power at the expense of their followers’ well-being?’ i.e. why have they stopped listening to us experts, dammit?

Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March

There will be enthusiastic Trump supporters who will be offended by the book because Naim includes Trump in the tale of democratic leaders who are moving inexorably toward autocracy. To his Naim’s credit, he treats Trump with the same analysis as he does for Berlusconi of Italy, Erdoğan of Turkey and Duarte of The Philippines. Naim doesn’t project hate, only disapproval and alarm. Another feature of the new despots is how they typically enlist religion as an ally. The classic dictators often had a troubled relationship with the religious establishment, recognizing that their own ideologies were a new, rival form of faith. This got settled in negotiated but uneasy concordats. The new dictators, whatever their personal beliefs, typically make common cause with believers. For some, the move seems purely a matter of calculation; Orbán, raised an atheist, embraced Christianity as he embraced power. One of the reasons, he thinks, is that there is too much change for a lot of people, and politics lines up along the levels of anxiety that induces. ‘People who are relatively open to new experiences have sorted themselves into the center-left, while the threat-averse identify largely with the right.’

Naim describes how politics has devolved into pure spectacle and has now blurred the lines between entertainment and politics. Naim points to Berlusconi of Italy and Trump of the U.S. as examples of leaders who are more style than substance.Moisés Naím: Maximize and minimize are extreme words, I would not use them. I can use and I can accept that sanctions will hurt the Russian economy, and will have dire consequences for the Russian populations. I am worried about first how really severe are these-- Until now we have seen announcements. Some of these announcements are very specific and the names and are quite concrete but they say there's more coming. There is a long list of possible of the sanctions that we know exists, that we know have been considered that have not been announced. The result, in Naim’s view, is a hollowing out of democracy. ‘Political parties may survive in some form, the way vestigial wings do on flightless birds’. Ditto other ‘old institutions’ – legal, media, and social – ‘that once mediated between citizens and rulers’. As I finished reading the book, I realised that we had found the local antidote to the 3-P autocrats. It is our own way of dealing with our own variety of 3-P autocrats. It is what emerged as Aragalaya in April this year, climaxed in July and is still simmering like live coals in the ashes. Proudly, I called it the Beautiful Revolution. However much its detractors howl against it, it is now a historical fact. Aragalaya happened and nobody can deny, delete or forget it. Our youth led it and were responsible for it and all, their mothers, fathers even little children joined them whole heartedly. The world was stunned by its success. Not a drop of blood was shed by the protesters.