Publisher's Synopsis
The alleged capabilities of democracy, advocated from the time of John Stuart Mill to that of Gabriel Almond, have been greatly ôoversold!ö. Self indulgent escapism dominated the democraciesÆ behavior. Free discussion was not much help. - - Until the mistake of Barbarossa, victory was in HitlerÆs grasp. Democracies were very slow learners and mediocre battlefield performers. The Jews of Europe were abandoned by the democracies to their fate and exorbitant territorial and political concessions were made to Russia in order to shift the military burden from the democracies in the 1940Æs. While the author identifies with democracyÆs moral values of human freedom, dignity and the rule of law, he sees deplorable past tendencies as all but certainly affecting the course of world future.
