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Tom Fletcher examines what future historians may well regard as the most fundamental issue of the 2020s: the complex, multi-faceted and far-reaching international contest between liberal democracy and its enemies. In this second episode, Tom looks at which system more effectively spreads opportunity for its people. In the decade since the global financial crisis, there has been a sense of democracy on the back foot, especially on long-term choices like infrastructure and preparing for a future with AI. But are democratic systems better able to correct course when things are going wrong?

Tom, a former diplomat and adviser to three British prime ministers, will draw on his own experiences and, in conversation with people he encountered along the way – people who rose to the very top – he will examine the state of liberal democracy, ask where it succeeds and where it fails, and make the case for its urgent renewal. With extraordinary stories from around the world, he’ll look at how the world’s democracies can confront autocratic regimes, how they make liberal democracy more ‘magnetic’ to democratic backsliders, and how they can put their own houses in order.

Producer: Giles Edwards.