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.

1. Accessory to Authoritarianism2. A Concise Biography of Democracy3. Spooking Democracy4. Tunnel Vision5. The Savage Wars of Peace6. The Curse of Low Expectations7. Backing the Wrong Horse8. Golden Handcuffs9. The Unthinkable Olive Branch10. Fool's Errands11. The Carrot12. The New Battleground13. City on a Swamp14. The Bear & the Dragon15. The Resurgence of Democracy