“Liberal democracy is under threat, and all who cherish it must come to its defence.” This is the opening sentence of “The Prague Appeal for Democratic Renewal”, authored by 180 intellectuals, artists and activists, including Anne Applebaum, Timothy Garton Ash, Shlomo Avineri, Francis Fukuyama, Richard Gere, Garry Kasparov, Mario Vargas Llosa, Arch Puddington and George Weigel. There are some less well-known names, and some known mostly for signing all sorts of open letters and manifestos. The Prague Appeal, adopted in May, makes pitiful reading. The document consists of two theses—the first occupying one short paragraph, and the other the remaining…