While democracy does battle with other political ideologies—fascism, communism, socialism—its most difficult battle is always with itself, the inherent contradiction that is both its greatest strength and most glaring vulnerability. The challenges we face in the 21st century are of a different magnitude, but rooted in this central truth: Democracy takes work. Tom Nichols' outstanding book is where we begin.

While democracy does battle with other political ideologies—fascism, communism, socialism—its most difficult battle is always with itself, the inherent contradiction that is both its greatest strength and most glaring vulnerability. The challenges we face in the 21st century are of a different magnitude, but rooted in this central truth: Democracy takes work. Tom Nichols' outstanding book is where we begin.

Maybe it's not imaginary conspiracies but rather our own failures—moral, intellectual, political—that are leading Americans to support incompetent, inarticulate and even authoritarian politicians. That's the thesis that Tom Nichols argues amusingly and persuasively in this book before concluding that reform must begin from within.

Nichols has nailed the problem that ails our democracies - and it is us: The narcissism, self-indulgence and nostalgia that come from a society in which the depth of our pockets are matched by the shallowness of our minds. Nichols neither gives into despair nor falls for simplistic solutions. He offers a wise, acute and unblinking measure of our failings—and the glimpse of a way out.

The eloquent jeremiad, that brilliant form of lamentation, is alive and well in the able hands of Tom Nichols. You don't have to agree with him on everything to appreciate his deep commitment to liberal democracy, his horror in the face of authoritarian demagoguery, and his call on democratic citizens to embrace knowledge and virtue. Nichols is that rarest of creatures, a happy scold who believes that deep down, even we terribly flawed human beings are capable of aspiring to higher purposes.

Taking freedom and democracy for granted is a fatal mistake. Our Own Worst Enemy explains why even the greatest nation on Earth isn't immune to the destructive effects of cynicism and ignorance. It is both a history lesson and a sharp examination of painful recent events. The forces of illiberalism are on the rise, and it's not clear that liberal democracy is up to the challenge. This book makes the essential case that ignoring politics is a luxury the citizens of the free world can no longer afford. Being a successful chessplayer requires understanding yourself and your own decision-making process. As Tom Nichols demonstrates in Our Own Worst Enemy, it turns out that's also required to be a successful country. America has enough enemies without turning on itself.

There are few silver linings to the monstrous transformation of the American right: one has been discovering the stalwart minority of decent, intelligent, honest conservatives who fiercely and absolutely reject the party of Trump—such as Tom Nichols. Our Own Worst Enemy is his thoughtful and thought-provoking diagnosis of our urgent democratic crises, which provided me the important pleasure of enjoying, learning from, and arguing with it.

Tom Nichols is Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs, US Naval War College, and a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of The Death of Expertise (Oxford 2017), No Use: Nuclear Weapons and US National Security (2013), and Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War (2008). He is also an instructor at the Harvard Extension School and an adjunct professor at the US Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies. He is a former aide in the US Senate and has been a Fellow of the International Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.