Another reason tyranny is resurgent has to do with human nature, which we in the West idealize. Not everyone sees freedom as their top priority, preferring security (a lesson we should have learned in Iraq). Populations unschooled in our traditions equate freedom with anarchy — and act accordingly: Russians have third-degree burns from the 1990s.

Tyrants may oppress you. They may lead you into disastrous wars. But they don’t demand that you take personal responsibility, that great burden of democracy. And every tyrant worth his salt provides scapegoats for his people’s failures: It’s never your fault, it’s them. It’s a message demagogues promote even here.

Tyrants offer certainty. All you have to do is let them run things. It’s a deal too many humans gladly embrace.