The concept of 'the greatness of Russia' has a disturbing echo of 'make America great again'. Photograph: iStock Democracy is in trouble all over the world, not least in its homeland of western Europe and the United States. The annual tally of Freedom House, the American research foundation, for the last 15 years has recorded a decline in democracies worldwide. There is, furthermore, democratic backsliding — a pullback from the core principles of democracy. This is usually identified in developing countries with fragile political institutions and endemic corruption. However, the most dramatic example was the storming of the Capitol in...