A marvelously intelligent read by an articulate student of comparative politics, Despot's Accomplice, by Brian Klass, a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics, posits a thesis that demands consideration and serves as a sounding board for examination and discussion, to wit: liberal democracies in the West and particularly in the US foreign policy arsenal parlay short-term gains for the sake of national strategic or economic interests against the long-term benefits of promoting liberal democracy. In a conspicuously well-researched and documented exposition augmented by a host of interviews, the author reviews the quality of governance in many states that have had gratuitous support from the West while simultaneously exposing themselves as authoritarian or worse, despotic regimes abusing human rights at will. A real contribution is the exposure of states that may appear or present themselves as a democracy but whose domestic political practices bely the label. This is a book that shouts out for inclusion on comparative politics reading lists and political science collections for all concerned about the current state of democracy. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.

--S. R. Silverburg, Catawba College

Sanford R. Silverburg

Catawba College

This efficient and thought-provoking plea for the U.S. and other Western countries to prioritize democracy promotion is a must-read, especially with the pending development of President Trump's foreign policy. Klaas, a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics, is no armchair academic, and his analyses of policymaking challenges are informed by extensive, and sometimes dangerous, field work. This accessible read does not sacrifice depth for breadth as Klaas reviews the history of democracy before making convincing cases for his 10 principles for nurturing its expansion, which include "stop trying to improve democracy with war," and "encourage new democracies to include the old regime during transitions." He's a vigorous opponent of Kissinger-style realpolitik, but he also advocates positions that he anticipates will be opposed by the left. The volume's seriousness, appropriate given democracy's global decline over the past decade, is leavened by gallows humor, as when he notes that a USAID program reported that Cambodia had exceeded expectations for democratic values—a year after an anti-democratic coup. Klaas is able to make his points simply and clearly, as in his observation that democracy, like free speech, must be protected regardless of whether it yields a preferred result. (May)