Many of our speakers are not only outstanding keynote speakers, but also brilliant authors who enrich current debates and provide food for thought with their publications.
One of them is the German-American political scientist Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook. She is one of the most prominent transatlantic voices of our time. She regularly appears on ARD and ZDF, as well as CNN and the BBC, and comments on international politics in media outlets such as the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Analysis of a gradual erosion of democracy
In her first book, Der amerikanische Weckruf (The American Wake-up Call), she provides a precise and disturbing analysis of the current world situation. She demonstrates how American democracy is being weakened not abruptly, but systematically, through the erosion of the separation of powers, the ideological control of education and the media, the reinterpretation of legal powers and the targeted intimidation of political opponents.
What long appeared to be chaos, provocation, or a series of isolated incidents turns out to be part of a long-term strategy. This is a development that many have underestimated or recognised too late.
Why Europe is not left out
Clüver Ashbrook deliberately looks beyond the USA. She demonstrates that similar dynamics have long since taken hold in Europe, including in Germany. The widespread assumption that liberal democracies are inherently stable has obscured their internal weaknesses. When institutions come under pressure and education systems are left unprotected, authoritarian strategies find fertile ground in increasingly fragmented public debates.
A political early warning system
In this analytical and compelling book, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook examines the lessons we must learn from the American case, making it clear what must be done now at political, legal, and social levels.
👉 This is a book for anyone who wants to understand how fragile democratic systems are, and how to defend them.
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