Gat, a professor of national security at Tel Aviv University, a Hoover Institution fellow, and author, has gained an international reputation as a military historian and security analyst....A contentious contribution to the foreign policy debate that raises important issues, Gat's latest will engross security wonks.

Publishers Weekly

Azar Gat's new book is a worthy successor to his magisterial work on war and civilization. Here, he transcends the by now familiar debates about the democratic peace and the “End of History.” In this brilliant and highly original work, Gat shows not only why democracies triumphed over their authoritarian, fascist, and communist adversaries in the past century, but simultaneously calls attention to the democracies' unique vulnerabilities.

Robert J. Lieber, professor of government and international affairs, Georgetown University