Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook

© Bertelsmann Stiftung Sebastian Pfuetze

The German-American political scientist Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook is considered one of the most prominent transatlantic voices of our time.

In her first book, Der Amerikanische Weckruf, she demonstrates how American democracy is being deliberately undermined: through the systematic weakening of the separation of powers, ideological control of education and the media, legal reinterpretation of authority, and targeted intimidation of political opponents. What many dismissed as chaos or isolated incidents was, in fact, part of a long-term strategy.

Clüver Ashbrook goes further, showing how the same patterns are emerging in Europe. The illusion that liberal democracies are automatically stable has blinded us to internal vulnerabilities. Authoritarian strategies take hold particularly easily where institutions are weak, education systems unprotected, and public discourse fragmented.