What do you think?
Rate this book
The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding and Abetting the Decline of Democracy
For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the world is steadily becoming less democratic. The true culprits are dictators and counterfeit democrats. But, argues Klaas, the West is also an accomplice, inadvertently assaulting pro-democracy forces abroad as governments in Washington, London and Brussels chase pyrrhic short-term economic and security victories. Friendly fire from Western democracies against democracy abroad is too high a price to pay for a myopic foreign policy that is ultimately making the world less prosperous, stable and democratic.
The Despot's Accomplice draws on years of extensive interviews on the frontlines of the global struggle for democracy, from a poetry-reading, politician-kidnapping general in Madagascar to Islamist torture victims in Tunisia, Belarusian opposition activists tailed by the KGB, West African rebels, and tea-sipping members of the Thai junta. Cumulatively, their stories weave together a tale of a broken system at the root of democracy's global retreat.
The Despot's Accomplice draws on years of extensive interviews on the frontlines of the global struggle for democracy, from a poetry-reading, politician-kidnapping general in Madagascar to Islamist torture victims in Tunisia, Belarusian opposition activists tailed by the KGB, West African rebels, and tea-sipping members of the Thai junta. Cumulatively, their stories weave together a tale of a broken system at the root of democracy's global retreat.
274 pages, Hardcover
First published February 10, 2017
About the author
Brian Klaas
8 books237 followersBrian Paul Klaas is an American political scientist, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and an associate professor in global politics at University College London.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 11, 2017
The world is pretty bleak right now, right? From spectacular own goals like Brexit and Trump, to deadly political machinations abroad (like the Thailand 2014 coup or the ongoing Syrian disaster), democracy as a global programme is in a pretty bad way. This book effortlessly leaps from country to country, building a complex argument for why democracy is under threat, how the West often has an unintentional/intentional role in it, and what can be done about it. It's really an extraordinary achievement - surprisingly readable for an academic work, the case studies it presents are well-researched (often Klaas interviews people directly), fascinating, and expansive.
At its heart, this book is an impassioned, reasoned and articulate defence of democracy. Democracy is not an exclusively Western ideal. To quote Obama's speech in Cairo, 2009, which this book does:
There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions.
Every person, no matter where they're born, deserves the right to participate in a democracy. Democracies contain a safety valve to diffuse potential conflicts so they're inherently more peaceful. Democracies need to listen to the people in order function, so they're inclusive. Democracies are less volatile than despots, less likely to crumble, so they provide good foundations for long-term economic growth. Democracies are about hope, enfranchisement, the belief that things can get better. Our current democracies aren't perfect *cough* 3 million more Americans voted for Hillary *cough* but they can be made to be.
At its heart, this book is an impassioned, reasoned and articulate defence of democracy. Democracy is not an exclusively Western ideal. To quote Obama's speech in Cairo, 2009, which this book does:
There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions.
Every person, no matter where they're born, deserves the right to participate in a democracy. Democracies contain a safety valve to diffuse potential conflicts so they're inherently more peaceful. Democracies need to listen to the people in order function, so they're inclusive. Democracies are less volatile than despots, less likely to crumble, so they provide good foundations for long-term economic growth. Democracies are about hope, enfranchisement, the belief that things can get better. Our current democracies aren't perfect *cough* 3 million more Americans voted for Hillary *cough* but they can be made to be.
December 21, 2022
I was hooked on reading Klaas' books because of his fantastic podcast, "Power Corrupts," and in this comprehensive tracking of the modern failures of Western foreign policy, I am even more impressed by the level of research, nuance, and clarity that is put into every one of his arguments.
What separates Klaas from everyone else is his thrilling and captivating story-telling of his interactions with military generals, dictators, and activists: It is very difficult to get bored while reading this book, and this is an incredible resource of useful examples (from Iran to the DRC to the Ivory Coast to Latvia) on the various ways in which democracy is undermined in part by Western intervention (whether half-hearted or incredibly misguided). It is a MUST to take notes while reading this book to make the most of these examples.
Finally, I appreciate that Klaas deliberately separates his opinions (which some accuse of being overly liberal, but I see them as very moderate and centrist) from his explanation of events. His proposal for trade organizations expressly committed around conditions for democratization may be a bit too optimistic (as he admits), but the central points are nevertheless still made clear.
What separates Klaas from everyone else is his thrilling and captivating story-telling of his interactions with military generals, dictators, and activists: It is very difficult to get bored while reading this book, and this is an incredible resource of useful examples (from Iran to the DRC to the Ivory Coast to Latvia) on the various ways in which democracy is undermined in part by Western intervention (whether half-hearted or incredibly misguided). It is a MUST to take notes while reading this book to make the most of these examples.
Finally, I appreciate that Klaas deliberately separates his opinions (which some accuse of being overly liberal, but I see them as very moderate and centrist) from his explanation of events. His proposal for trade organizations expressly committed around conditions for democratization may be a bit too optimistic (as he admits), but the central points are nevertheless still made clear.
March 9, 2021
Notice the interesting subtitle: “How the West is Aiding and Abetting the Decline of Democracy”
From Opening Acknowledgments: “Since 2012, I have conducted roughly 250 interviews trying to understand the battle for global democracy. The list includes former prime ministers and presidents, diplomats, MPs, journalists, ex-rebels, generals, coup plotters, democracy promoters, election observers, academics, political analysts, economists, and torture victims.” Wow.
“Foreign aid is no magic wand, and it may be more of a curse than a blessing when misspent on a military regime—as it was in Pakistan.”
He tells a lot of really interesting stories that most people in the West won’t know. Stuff that made me want to look it up and find out more. Reading with a smartphone in hand is highly recommended, you’ll use it often if you’re anything like me.
His idea about a League of Democracies is really appealing. Kind of an economic/trade based NATO, but world’s wide, could include for example India, Japan, Brazil, etc, as well as the EU. Creating a big financial incentive for countries to become democratic enough to join. His focus on economic incentives is really interesting. And smart.
He wrote this first, but I read The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy first. It was so good that I had to get this too. His style is engaging and easy to read while still being academic and without personal attacks. It made him seem more objective and legit than some I’ve read. He also wrote, How to Rig an Election with Nic Cheeseman, which was really interesting and not exactly what you might think from the title. It shows the 6 main methods used around the world to rig elections. It has a lot of really interesting history about many nations, always actual examples, and it’s really relevant to any location. Including our gerrymandered and voter suppressing country. I highly recommend all three books.
From Opening Acknowledgments: “Since 2012, I have conducted roughly 250 interviews trying to understand the battle for global democracy. The list includes former prime ministers and presidents, diplomats, MPs, journalists, ex-rebels, generals, coup plotters, democracy promoters, election observers, academics, political analysts, economists, and torture victims.” Wow.
“Foreign aid is no magic wand, and it may be more of a curse than a blessing when misspent on a military regime—as it was in Pakistan.”
He tells a lot of really interesting stories that most people in the West won’t know. Stuff that made me want to look it up and find out more. Reading with a smartphone in hand is highly recommended, you’ll use it often if you’re anything like me.
His idea about a League of Democracies is really appealing. Kind of an economic/trade based NATO, but world’s wide, could include for example India, Japan, Brazil, etc, as well as the EU. Creating a big financial incentive for countries to become democratic enough to join. His focus on economic incentives is really interesting. And smart.
He wrote this first, but I read The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy first. It was so good that I had to get this too. His style is engaging and easy to read while still being academic and without personal attacks. It made him seem more objective and legit than some I’ve read. He also wrote, How to Rig an Election with Nic Cheeseman, which was really interesting and not exactly what you might think from the title. It shows the 6 main methods used around the world to rig elections. It has a lot of really interesting history about many nations, always actual examples, and it’s really relevant to any location. Including our gerrymandered and voter suppressing country. I highly recommend all three books.
October 17, 2025
An enjoyable and well-researched book. Klaas clearly put a lot of effort into combining theory with fieldwork — traveling, interviewing, and building a framework to explain how the West can better promote democracy abroad.
That said, I had a big problem with the book’s core premise. The author assumes that Western countries should actively work to democratize the rest of the world, as long as they avoid direct military intervention — except in “special” cases, ideally with non-Western partners involved. The idea sounds reasonable on paper, but it rests on shaky foundations.
First, Klaas assumes that everyone, everywhere is willing to sacrifice their country’s stability, sovereignty, and economic well-being for democracy—or at least that the West is justified in imposing it regardless. This overlooks the agency and consent of the people actually living under oppression. Second, he treats Western meddling as acceptable if it’s framed as “democratization.” Yet this ignores the real human and economic costs of such interventions, and the ways in which they often serve geopolitical interests rather than the people they claim to help.
Third, he assumes Western governments actually prioritize democracy promotion, citing the Iraq and Libya wars in the process, as if they were honest attempts that just went wrong.
Finally, he often uses “Western” countries and “democratic” countries interchangeably. While it is true that Western countries constitute the largest bloc of democracies, this conflation highlights not only a problem of terminology but also an implicit merging of the goals of democratization with the promotion of Western interests.
Coming from the Global South, I found this framing quite appalling. There’s zero acknowledgment of the human and economic devastation caused by these so-called democratization wars. It is implicitly assumed that the ends justify the means, yet there is no guarantee that the costs of enduring dictatorship would outweigh the losses caused by a Western-led democratization effort—whether military, economic (via devastating sanctions) nor that any resulting democracy would even be sustainable. He also ignores why many in the Global South mistrust Western “help”: the same countries preaching democracy today have long histories of colonization, wars, and discrimination. He fails to acknowledge that any acceptance of such aid—even assuming it were genuinely for the people’s benefit—would need to be preceded by reconciliation and an admission of the atrocities these countries have committed and continue to commit.
The book also lacks any criteria for when intervention is actually welcomed or justified. Citing rigged elections seems, for the author, enough to encourage another foreign “fix,” even if it destroys the country it claims to save. And when he discusses lobbying in U.S. politics, he somehow finds room for the gun lobby but not AIPAC — nor does Israel’s “democracy” get mentioned except once, and only as a victim.
Overall, The Despot’s Accomplice is engaging and well-written, but ultimately another first-world lens on global politics, more about proving Western democracy’s superiority than genuinely understanding or addressing the suffering of those on the receiving end of its interventions.
That said, I had a big problem with the book’s core premise. The author assumes that Western countries should actively work to democratize the rest of the world, as long as they avoid direct military intervention — except in “special” cases, ideally with non-Western partners involved. The idea sounds reasonable on paper, but it rests on shaky foundations.
First, Klaas assumes that everyone, everywhere is willing to sacrifice their country’s stability, sovereignty, and economic well-being for democracy—or at least that the West is justified in imposing it regardless. This overlooks the agency and consent of the people actually living under oppression. Second, he treats Western meddling as acceptable if it’s framed as “democratization.” Yet this ignores the real human and economic costs of such interventions, and the ways in which they often serve geopolitical interests rather than the people they claim to help.
Third, he assumes Western governments actually prioritize democracy promotion, citing the Iraq and Libya wars in the process, as if they were honest attempts that just went wrong.
Finally, he often uses “Western” countries and “democratic” countries interchangeably. While it is true that Western countries constitute the largest bloc of democracies, this conflation highlights not only a problem of terminology but also an implicit merging of the goals of democratization with the promotion of Western interests.
Coming from the Global South, I found this framing quite appalling. There’s zero acknowledgment of the human and economic devastation caused by these so-called democratization wars. It is implicitly assumed that the ends justify the means, yet there is no guarantee that the costs of enduring dictatorship would outweigh the losses caused by a Western-led democratization effort—whether military, economic (via devastating sanctions) nor that any resulting democracy would even be sustainable. He also ignores why many in the Global South mistrust Western “help”: the same countries preaching democracy today have long histories of colonization, wars, and discrimination. He fails to acknowledge that any acceptance of such aid—even assuming it were genuinely for the people’s benefit—would need to be preceded by reconciliation and an admission of the atrocities these countries have committed and continue to commit.
The book also lacks any criteria for when intervention is actually welcomed or justified. Citing rigged elections seems, for the author, enough to encourage another foreign “fix,” even if it destroys the country it claims to save. And when he discusses lobbying in U.S. politics, he somehow finds room for the gun lobby but not AIPAC — nor does Israel’s “democracy” get mentioned except once, and only as a victim.
Overall, The Despot’s Accomplice is engaging and well-written, but ultimately another first-world lens on global politics, more about proving Western democracy’s superiority than genuinely understanding or addressing the suffering of those on the receiving end of its interventions.
April 5, 2018
This book explains how the Western countries' promotion of democracy has fallen worldwide because of our aiding and abetting authoritarian/despotic countries for our short-time economic/strategic goals. Instead of maintaining and upholding the high principles of democracy in dealing with counties that are are ruled by dictators, the West has fallen short , with the rise of more authoritarian rule. The author, Brian Klaas, explains how this has happened, and he outlines ten principals that the West should follow now and in the near future to get back on track to promote democracy in its true light and values. This is a very interesting and informative book on the narrow-minded thinking, brash tactics, and manipulation of the policies and politics of Western nations. This falls short of our longstanding goal to be the beacon of hope for the world to be governed by the people, for the people, and of the people.
July 22, 2021
Well-meaning liberal foreign policy wonk or at least appearing so. Spends a lot of time in Africa and Asia but Latin America, not so much and ways to promote democracy. Assumes America wants democracy. It is not our prime directive it is a nice perk but our foreign policy seems mostly like all American politics for the benefit of the business. It would be nice if libs spreading democracy was a thing but that isn't the primary goal. The goal for US policy is to promote corporate profits overseas and making sure our military reach enforces that. I mean well-meaning New York times reading libs who still think democratic procedures are more than a show for people like themselves will enjoy this book.
December 17, 2025
I enjoyed this.
Klaas’ work in The Despot’s Accomplice gives a structured theory that the West once promoted democracy and is now actively moving closer towards the ire of authoritarianism. While the sources paint the picture that such is the case, I’d argue that the same sources point to the West only advancing their own personal interests rather than the actual promotion of democracy, while using their ‘democratic structure’ as an excuse to exert their will upon developing or other developed nations. Though, i will add, that i read this book in 2025 - so my bias on present global affairs is likely why i drew this conclusion.
Overall, excellent work.
Klaas’ work in The Despot’s Accomplice gives a structured theory that the West once promoted democracy and is now actively moving closer towards the ire of authoritarianism. While the sources paint the picture that such is the case, I’d argue that the same sources point to the West only advancing their own personal interests rather than the actual promotion of democracy, while using their ‘democratic structure’ as an excuse to exert their will upon developing or other developed nations. Though, i will add, that i read this book in 2025 - so my bias on present global affairs is likely why i drew this conclusion.
Overall, excellent work.
March 26, 2024
Democracy or not explained!
What an amazing book. Everyone should read this book so you can understand how democracy is real or counterfeit. Counterfeit democracy can appear to be real but in actuality it is authoritarian.
Mr Klaas helped me understand the different forms of government and how they act. In today’s world I find this very important.
Thank you Mr Klaas!
What an amazing book. Everyone should read this book so you can understand how democracy is real or counterfeit. Counterfeit democracy can appear to be real but in actuality it is authoritarian.
Mr Klaas helped me understand the different forms of government and how they act. In today’s world I find this very important.
Thank you Mr Klaas!
Read
January 21, 2022DNF @ 14%
Read
March 23, 2018321.8 K631 2016
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews