The New York Times bestseller-an indispensable tool to understanding the Bush administration's foreign policy Natan Sharansky spent nine years as a Soviet political prisoner and nine years as an Israeli politician. Now he uses the unique perspective of his experiences to make the case for democracy with his longtime friend and adviser Ron Dermer. In this brilliantly analytical yet personal book, nondemocratic societies are put under a microscope to reveal the mechanics of tyranny that sustain them. Freedom, the authors claim, is rooted in the right to dissent. Societies that do not protect that right can never be reliable partners for peace. The authors make their case through a fascinating journey, showing us firsthand how an evil empire was destroyed and how the principles that led to that destruction were abandoned in the search for peace in the Middle East. At a time when many experts doubt that freedom can ever prevail in the Middle East, this book declares unequivocally that the skeptics are wrong. The question is not whether we have the power to change the world but whether we have the will. Summoning that will demands that we move beyond Right and Left and start thinking about right and wrong.