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In this major new series, Tom Fletcher will examine what future historians may well regard as the most fundamental issue of the 2020s: the complex, multi-faceted and far-reaching international contest between liberal democracy and its enemies. Tom, a former diplomat and adviser to three British prime ministers, will draw on his own experiences in countries as diverse as Lebanon, Kenya and France to reveal how this battle has developed since the end of the Cold War. And in conversation with people he encountered along the way – people who rose to the very top – he will examine the state of liberal democracy, ask where it succeeds and where it fails, and make the case for its urgent renewal. With sometimes surprising stories from around the world, he’ll look at how the world’s democracies can confront autocratic regimes, how they make liberal democracy more ‘magnetic’ to democratic backsliders, and how they can put their own houses in order.

In this first episode, Tom will begin by looking at security, the first responsibility of any government. Which type of government delivers security best – both internally and externally – for its people? What compromises are citizens prepared to make to get the security they crave? And, in the fallout from the war in Ukraine, are democracies better or worse-placed now than they were a year ago to push back against autocracy?

Producer: Giles Edwards