Neoliberals thought capitalism would bring about democracy, civil liberties, and human rights everywhere. But that is fast becoming an illusion, particularly in the East, where traditionalist and nationalist leaders are attracting religious, rural, or newly urban constituencies and ushering in an era of illiberal democracies. Peer, who was born in Kashmir and wrote with passion and intelligence about his native land in his acclaimed first book, Curfewed Night, reports from two of the world's largest democracies--Narendra Modi's India and Recep Tyyip Erdogan's Turkey--and examines how two charismatic strongmen came to power and moved their country in the direction of authoritarianism.
