Our Own Worst Enemy

The book

Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy

A contrarian yet highly engaging account of the spread of illiberal and anti-democratic sentiment throughout our culture that places responsibility on the citizens themselves.

Over the past three decades, citizens of democracies who claim to value freedom, tolerance, and the rule of law have increasingly embraced illiberal politicians and platforms. Democracy is in trouble--but who is really to blame?

In Our Own Worst Enemy, Tom Nichols challenges the current depictions of the rise of illiberal and anti-democratic movements in the United States and elsewhere as the result of the deprivations of globalization or the malign decisions of elites. Rather, he places the blame for the rise of illiberalism on the people themselves. Nichols traces the illiberalism of the 21st century to the growth of unchecked narcissism, rising standards of living, global peace, and a resistance to change. Ordinary citizens, laden with grievances, have joined forces with political entrepreneurs who thrive on the creation of rage rather than on the encouragement of civic virtue and democratic cooperation. While it will be difficult, Nichols argues that we need to defend democracy by resurrecting the virtues of altruism, compromise, stoicism, and cooperation--and by recognizing how good we've actually had it in the modern world.

Trenchant, contrarian, and highly engaging, Our Own Worst Enemy reframes the debate about how democracies have ended up in this dire state of affairs and what to do about it.

About the author

Tom Nichols is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He was a professor of national security affairs for 25 years at the U.S. Naval War College, and is the author of The Death of Expertise (Oxford 2017) as well as books on Russia, the Cold War, nuclear weapons, and the future of armed conflict. He was 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 U.S. Senate and has been a Fellow of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He was also a Senior Associate of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York City, a Fellow of the International History Institute at Boston University, and a Senior Fellow of the Graham Center for Contemporary International History at the University of Toronto. Previously he was a Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

In 2017 Tom was named one of POLITICO Magazine's "POLITICO 50," the thinkers whose ideas are shaking up American politics and public life.

Tom is also a five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion. He played in the 1994 Tournament of Champions, is listed in the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame, and as one of the game's top players was invited to participate in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, where he played his final match.

Our Own Worst Enemy

Breadcrumbs

Main page content