Free Republic

I have just finished reading Natan Sharansky's "The Case for Democracy" (co-authored by Ron Dermer). This is the best book of its kind I have read in 25 years, and not just because it is a book the President has not only read but that provides the theme for his second Inaugural and State of the Union addresses. Sharansky's theme is simple, which is part of the beauty of this book. There are "fear societies" and "free societies." A free society is one in which a citizen can go into the public square and say what's on his mind without...

Natan Sharansky surely numbers among the foremost champions of freedom of recent times. A leading voice of Soviet dissent during the 1970’s, he was largely responsible for transforming the demand that Soviet Jews be allowed to emigrate to Israel into the most influential protest movement in Soviet history. As a prisoner in the gulag, charged by the Kremlin with treason, Sharansky became a leading symbol of resistance to totalitarian brutality. ...Sharansky’s case for what amounts to a refashioning of the Middle East’s political culture ...The need for stability, Sharansky concluded, is one of the most misused arguments in political life....

The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror by Natan Sharansky with Ron Dermer Natan Sharansky surely numbers among the foremost champions of freedom of recent times. A leading voice of Soviet dissent during the 1970’s, he was largely responsible for transforming the demand that Soviet Jews be allowed to emigrate to Israel into the most influential protest movement in Soviet history. As a prisoner in the gulag, charged by the Kremlin with treason, Sharansky became a leading symbol of resistance to totalitarian brutality. During his nine years of incarceration—he was the first political prisoner...