An impassioned plea for liberals to look critically at liberalism's responsibility for the current failures of western society. Given Hungary, Poland, Trump and Brexit, to mention just a few of the most recent disasters, it is clear that there is a problem. Zielonka drives home the thesis that liberals and liberalism to a large extent is to blame for these developments. Liberals cannot avoid looking critically at themselves. A reappraisal is required. I agree.
However, I do not agree with every aspect of Zielonka's analysis, but that is to be expected. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, his pointers towards a new liberalism are vague. The first step must be to realize that there is a problem. This book, and others, show that there is a global, or at least western, debate about these issues. I notice that Sweden, where I live, has nothing in this vein. This is a disaster in its own right.