It’s a nonsensical cliché, propagated for decades by people who don’t understand history, that the next election is always the most important of our lifetimes. But the forthcoming American presidential election, for once, lives up to the hype. It really is a consequential moment in the history of liberal democracy, and its outcome will determine whether a 21st Century form of authoritarianism will become entrenched in American politics, and, like much American culture, be exported to liberal democracies worldwide.