67 pages • 2 hours read
Timothy SnyderThe Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Ideological Context: The Politics of Inevitability and Eternity
In The Road to Unfreedom, Snyder contrast two overarching political ideologies: the politics of inevitability and the politics of eternity. The former is a liberal narrative that suggests that liberal democracies are the ultimate destination of any political evolution, presuming a linear progression toward more open and democratic societies. This view, according to Snyder, has dominated Western thinking since the end of the Cold War, illustrated in the triumphalist rhetoric of discussions about globalization and the spread of democratic values.
Contrasting with the politics of inevitability is the politics of eternity, which Snyder attributes to authoritarian regimes, notably Russia under Putin. This ideology is characterized by a nostalgic and nationalistic longing for past glories and a cyclical view of history, where external threats are perpetually imminent and internal unity is enforced through a narrative of national victimhood. This narrative serves to legitimize authoritarian practices, suppress political dissent, and undermine democratic norms both domestically and internationally.
Therefore, Snyder aims to provide clarity in a political environment that seems overly complicated and difficult to untangle by reducing the ideological battle to two main tendencies. Many criticize this view, however, as the contemporary ideological terrain is much more complicated than the two streams traced by Snyder.
For example, Pavel Barša’s article “Trapped in False Antitheses: Snyder’s Analyses of the Global Authoritarian Turn Are Crippled by His Anti-totalitarian Framework” (2020) argues that Snyder is one-sided in his ideological analysis of Russia and Eastern Europe due to his own ideological bias, which he inherits from the Cold War era:
I claim that the main reason for his failure to present a convincing account of the current neo-nationalist and authoritarian turn and outline an adequate intellectual and political response is his clinging to an anti-totalitarian paradigm which he applied to Eastern Europe in some of his historical works (Snyder 2003, 2010). He inherited it from the Cold War liberalism in its last version, which was brought about by the human rights revolution of ‘the long 1970s’ (Moyn 2010, 2014; Eckel–Moyn 2014). This framework reduces the three main ideological alternatives that fought with each other in the last century (Mazower 2000: x) into two: liberalism was allegedly challenged by one enemy that showed either a nationalist or a socialist face, if not a mixture of both (Barša, Pavel. “Trapped in False Antitheses: Timothy Snyder’s Analyses of the Global Authoritarian Turn Are Crippled by His Anti-totalitarian Framework.” Czech Journal of International Relations, 2020, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 47-64).
Therefore, although Snyder effectively highlights how Russia under Putin exploits the politics of eternity to cement its authoritarian regime, the criticism posits that his framework may not fully capture the ideological landscape of the 21st century, where old dichotomies between liberalism and totalitarianism are being redefined and new ideological forms are emerging. For instance, the blending of nationalist and socialist elements in contemporary political movements could suggest a more complex ideological interaction than what a simple binary can convey. As political identities and alliances become increasingly fluid, Snyder’s analyses might benefit from nuance, without obstructing the clarity that makes him a widely read author.
Academic Context: Snyder’s Interdisciplinary Approach
The Road to Unfreedom can be situated at the intersection of contemporary history and political science, engaging with a growing body of scholarly work concerned with the resurgence of authoritarianism, the manipulation of historical narratives, and the dynamics of modern geopolitics. Snyder’s approach is distinctively interdisciplinary, blending historical analysis with political theory and incorporating elements of philosophy, sociology, and international relations. This synthesis allows him to examine the underlying ideologies and narratives that shape these events.
Snyder engages critically with the role of information warfare and propaganda in shaping public perception and political outcomes—a topic that resonates with contemporary concerns about fake news, cyber warfare, and media manipulation. Drawing upon detailed case studies, particularly of Russia’s actions in Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Snyder provides an analysis of how state actors can exploit digital media and historical narratives to achieve geopolitical goals. This discussion contributes to ongoing dialogues within media studies and communication theory, particularly around the impact of social media platforms on democracy, international relations, and geopolitics.
Jack Goldstone in “The Road to Unfreedom: A Review Essay” (2019) makes the argument that there are weaknesses in Snyder’s study, such as in “assessing the cause of the West’s democratic decay” (929). Goldstone argues that Snyder diagnoses the cause of Western negligence in democratic interference as complacency (in Snyder’s parlance, on the politics of inevitability). However, Gladstone argues in favor of a more focused analysis of the causes of degeneration in Western societies and offers an alternative by painting a bleak image economically, prompted by the workings of a free market that foments inequality:
However, there was more to these trends than mere complacency, for powerful demographic forces were also at work. These could be described as baby-boom saturation, and urban/rural and educational sorting. […] Throughout history, periods of sustained population growth have usually led to stagnant or declining real wages, reduced social mobility, and rising income inequality. Rapid and sustained growth in the labor force eventually shifts market power away from workers and toward those who employ them, promoting a polarization of wealth and income. In order to fight this effect, government policies need to redistribute income and wealth, either by direct transfers or by taxing the wealthy to provide opportunities for workers to invest in themselves through education and expanded infrastructure (Goldstone, Jack. “The Road to Unfreedom: A Review Essay.” Population and Development Review, 2019, vol. 45, no. 4, p. 929).
Thus, while Snyder’s work is highly praised as an interdisciplinary work highlighting the ideological battles and strategic manipulations that characterize modern geopolitics, it also invites further examination of the causes of democratic deterioration. This includes the economic underpinnings that might necessitate more robust policy responses to prevent the deepening of social and economic divides, an aspect that complements Snyder’s narrative by adding a layer of economic analysis to the discussion on the sustainability of democratic institutions.
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