After Augustus, the first Roman princeps, the Senate could vote deceased emperors into divine status. Such an apotheosis, of course, served the political interests of the emperor s successors, who could claim a godly lineage while aspiring to be raised to godlike status themselves.

PRAGUE For decades, the idea of the electric car has captured the imaginations of innovators including Henry Ford and Thomas Edison more than a century ago. Celebrities, pundits, and political leaders alike have cast these vehicles as the apotheosis of an environmentally responsible future.

But it has nothing to do with pessimism. The challenge of governing global risks is nothing less than the challenge of preventing the end of history not as the placid apotheosis of liberal democracy s global victory, but as the worst collective failure we can imagine.