You would be forgiven for thinking that the Hamas-Israeli War is the only international news story worth covering. We all perceive events through our individual interests and attention spans, and we focus on events that seem to be “far away” only when they are catastrophic. As is always the case with news broadcasts, “When it bleeds, it leads.” But this focus can be dangerous when it causes us to believe that, absent a catastrophe, nothing important is happening.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Substack essay yesterday revealed that a kind of creeping populist authoritarianism is emerging around the world and that we need to pay attention to it in order to keep it from erupting into catastrophe. (Richard Engel can only travel to so many war zones in a year, ya know.) I’m going to summarize this in this essay, but here’s the link to her article if you would like to know more.
Her Substack page describes her as a historian of authoritarians, propaganda, and democracy protection. NYU Professor. Book: Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. MSNBC Columnist and commentator. Consultant for film & TV.
Her focus is on what she calls “fake populists:” politicians who claim they represent "the people" against exploitative elites and foreign interests, but who often form part of that same cosmopolitan elite class. Fake populists often vaunt credentials of national purity and launch campaigns to "drain the swamp" (a term invented by Benito Mussolini), but their "anti-corruption" campaigns often target those who might reveal their thievery.
She frames her discussion around how #PO1135809 fits this mold, but that he is neither the only nor a ground-breaking figure in this category. Her description of him as a fake populist authoritarian is scathing and brutally accurate. You should read it.
In this essay, she compares # PO1135809 to these two world leaders:
Argentina's recently-elected president, Javier Gerardo Milei, who came to be known as “chainsaw man” during his campaign because he carried a chainsaw to events to dramatize his intention to slash public spending – another hallmark of fake populists. He ran on the slogan “Make Argentina Great Again,” which he intends to accomplish through dismantling government agencies and drastically cutting public services.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Marawiecki, who has stoked fears around immigration and foreign influence and asserted himself as a defender of authentic Polish values since coming to power in 2015.
It’s clear from this essay that the author knows what she’s talking about. The essay includes references to other things she has written as well as media events where she has focused on this problem. While the world’s attention is captured by things that blow up, authoritarians are quietly dismantling democratic norms and institutions across the world.
Her essay made me want to know more. When I Googled the topic, I came across an organization called Freedom House, which is the oldest American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world. It was formally established in New York in 1941 to promote American involvement in World War II and the fight against fascism. In 2022, it published The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule, a 37-page report summarizing this trend toward authoritarianism. You should take a look at this as well. The graphics are particularly chilling.
We should pay attention. #PO1135809 and his allies are proposing blatant authoritarianism were he to win reelection in 2024. It is not a stretch to say that Democracy is on the ballot.
As always, well worth the read.
Agreed. Lucid is always a good read. I admit, though, that I sometimes say “Really?” or something more rude at the end of her articles.