After weeks of posturing and the imminent threat of invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to roll tens of thousands of troops across the border into the sovereign country of Ukraine in late February. The campaign was preceded by a prolonged Russian military buildup around Ukraine, as well as numerous Russian demands for security measures and legal prohibitions against Ukraine joining NATO.

Today’s autocrats, like Putin, are using the three “P”s—populism, polarization, and post-truths to undermine democratic life in new and frightening ways.

In his new book “The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats are Reinventing Politics in the 21st Century,” internationally syndicated columnist and bestselling author Moisés Naím turns to the trends, conditions, technologies and behaviors that are contributing to a concentration of power, and to the clash between those forces that weaken power and those that strengthen it.

Dr. Naim, a Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, shows how power has not changed, but the way people go about gaining it and using it has been transformed. His book highlights alluring characters, riveting stories about power grabs and losses, and vivid examples of the tricks and tactics used by autocrats to counter the forces that are weakening their power. It connects the dots between global events and political tactics that, when taken together, show a profound and often stealthy transformation in power and politics worldwide.

The Institute of the Americas is pleased to launch its Distinguished Speaker Series with Dr. Naím as its inaugural speaker.

He offers insights about what can be done to ensure that freedom and democracy prevail and addresses the questions at the heart of the matter: Why is power concentrating in some places while in others it is fragmenting and degrading? And the big question: What is the future of freedom?

Watch Revenge of Power: How Autocrats are Reinventing Politics in the 21st Century.