A national bestseller, including extended stays on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post lists, this major work by Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria has been touted by the New York Times as "brave and ambitious...updated Tocqueville" and the Chicago Tribune as "essential reading for anyone worried about the promotion and preservation of liberty."

Democracy has reshaped politics, economics, and culture around the world. This provocative book asks, can you have too much of a good thing?

Today we judge the value of every idea, institution, and individual by one test: is it popular? Or, more practically, do the majority of those polled like it? This transformation has affected not just politics but also business, law, culture, and even religion. Every institution and profession in society must democratize or die. Democracy has gone from being a form of government to a way of life.

Like any broad transformation, however, the trends that democracy unleashes are not uniformly benign. Democracy has its dark sides, yet to question it has been to provoke instant criticism that you are "out of sync" with the times. No more. "Intensely provocative and valuable," according to Business Week, and with an easy command of history, philosophy, and current affairs, The Future of Freedom calls for a restoration of the balance between liberty and democracy and shows how liberal democracy has to be made effective and relevant for our time. Woodrow Wilson said the challenge of the twentieth century was to make the world safe for democracy. This penetrating book challenges us to make democracy safe for the world.

"A work of tremendous originality and insight." The Washington Post

"A very thoughtful and intelligent book which is important for all Americans and those who would make American policy." Peter Jennings, ABC News

"A learned, tough-minded, and intellectually courageous warning that easy bromides about democracy, if taken as a literal guide to policy, could make the world a more dangerous and less pleasant place." Nicholas Lemann

"Zakaria, one of the most brilliant young writers, has produced a fascinating and thought-provoking book on the impact of Western constitutional principles on the global order." Henry Kissinger

"At once fascinating and illuminating." Bernard Lewis

"[T]hought-provoking and timely..." Publishers Weekly

"[A] provocative critique of political trends fast democratizing the entire globe....[Zakaria] lays out the sobering task of resolving the dilemmas of untrammeled democracy." Bryce Christensen, Booklist

"Zakaria covers an immense amount of ground in this eloquent examination....[He] forces us to think in new ways about values that Americans take for granted." Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

"In this incisive book, Zakaria asks searching questions and offers provocative answers....[A]n impressive contribution to our understanding of the crises of democracy that lie darkly ahead." Arthur Schlesinger

Examines the influence of democracy on politics, business and economics, law, culture, and religion in different regions of the world; explores the dark side of the democratic process and its sometimes negative impact; and reflects on the future of world democracy. Reprint.

This book examines how democracy has changed our politics, economics, and social relations. It challenges us to put human liberty above the alter of democracy at home and abroad. The new afterword discusses building a sustainable democracy in Iraq.

A modern classic that uses historical analysis to shed light on the present, this national bestseller is, as the "Chicago Tribune" puts it, "essential reading for anyone worried about the promotion and preservation of liberty."

differently."—Washington Post

A modern classic that uses historical analysis to shed light on the present, The Future of Freedom is, as the Chicago Tribune put it, "essential reading for anyone worried about the promotion and preservation of liberty." Hailed by the New York Times as "brave and ambitious...updated Tocqueville," it enjoyed extended stays on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller lists and has been translated into eighteen languages. Prescient in laying out the distinction between democracy and liberty, the book now contains a new afterword on the United States's occupation of Iraq.

"Intensely provocative and valuable," according to BusinessWeek, with an easy command of history, philosophy, and current affairs, The Future of Freedom calls for a restoration of the balance between liberty and democracy and shows how politics and government can be made effective and relevant for our time. This new edition includes a new afterword on America in Iraq.

Fareed Zakaria is editor of Newsweek International. He lives in New York City.

Introduction: The Democratic Age 13
Ch. 1 A Brief History of Human Liberty 29
Ch. 2 The Twisted Path 59
Ch. 3 Illiberal Democracy 89
Ch. 4 The Islamic Exception 119
Ch. 5 Too Much of a Good Thing 161
Ch. 6 The Death of Authority 199
Conclusion: The Way Out 239
Afterword: The 51st State 257
Notes 265
Acknowledgments 277
Index 279