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Title details for The Case for Democracy by Natan Sharansky - Available

The Case for Democracy

The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror

by Natan Sharansky
Ron Dermer
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

Natan Sharansky has lived an unusual life, spending nine years as a Soviet political prisoner and nine years as an Israeli politician. In this brilliantly analytical yet personal book, Sharansky and his longtime friend and advisor Ron Dermer make the case for democracy. The authors put nondemocratic societies under the microscope to reveal the mechanics of tyranny that sustain them, and explain why democracy is essential for our security.

Freedom, Sharansky claims, is rooted in the right to dissent, and societies that do not protect that right can never be reliable partners for peace. But lasting tyranny can be consigned to history's dustbin if the free world stays true to its ideals. The question is not whether we have the power to change the world, but whether we have the will to move beyond Right and Left and start thinking about right and wrong.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 22, 2005

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481563642
      • File size: 238122 KB
      • Duration: 08:16:05

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 9-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Cited by the current administration as a strong influence on the president, Sharansky's work is part political philosophy, part biography. The two genres are intertwined effortlessly by the former Soviet political prisoner who is now a political leader in Israel. Simon Vance presents a sophisticated and thoughtful reading. His voice is what one would imagine Sharansky's voice might sound like: articulate, cosmopolitan, and passionate. Vance's speech has the accent of one whose first language is not English, but who is a careful English speaker. The core argument is that the world is divided between free and "fear" societies and the way to fight the latter is by promoting freedom. Sharansky also argues that freedom is a universal aspiration of human beings. M.L.C. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 15, 2004
      Drawing on his autobiography—from Soviet refusenik to Israeli cabinet minister – Sharansky distinguishes between "fear" and "free" societies. He spends a significant amount of time taking on conservative "realists" who prize stability in international relations, as well as liberals who he says fail to distinguish between flawed democracies that struggle to implement human rights and authoritarian or totalitarian states that flout human rights as a matter of course. Sharansky criticizes those who argue that democracy is culturally contingent and therefore unsuited for Muslim societies. Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he mentions documented Israeli human rights abuses, but places the bulk of the blame for the conflict on the dictatorial systems prevalent in Arab societies. He also weighs in on the vexing subject of how to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from the "new anti-Semitism." Such criticism must pass the "3D" test of " demonization, double standards, or delegitimation." Sharansky does not grapple deeply with the current situation in Iraq, but his opinions throughout, honed through years in a Soviet prison and in the corridors of power, feel earned. Agent, Marvin Josephson at ICM.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

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