Autocrats and populists are on the march around the world, including in European countries that were seen until recently as firmly in the democratic camp. The phenomenon, coupled with the deepening of authoritarian tendencies in already-repressive Russia and China, has prompted worries that liberalism itself may be waning.

This week on And Now the Hard Part, we trace the roots of the problem and talk about how to fix it.

“As we emerged from the Cold War, I think there was a legitimate reason for us to believe that … democracy would be institutionalized around the globe,” said John Allen, a retired four-star general and the president of the Brookings Institution.

“[But] in the last few years, we have seen a real slip … in the context of both the attractiveness of democracy and the endurance of democratic institutions.”

Allen is our guest on the podcast this week. Listen to the episode on this page or subscribe and download wherever you get your podcasts.