The Allure of Fascism, Part II

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” 1 Those were the words President Donald Trump…

Two years before the Soviet Union’s collapse, and at a time when commentators were beginning to announce the end of the Cold War, Western scholars like Francis Fukuyama proclaimed we…

With exorbitant privilege comes blindness. The blindness that allowed Americans to believe history had ended would define the country’s response to 9/11. In the aftermath of the attacks, America’s conservative…

Less than a month after 9/11, the US invaded Afghanistan, beginning what Bush called America’s “crusade” against terrorism.1 In a speech delivered on the day “Operation Enduring Freedom” commenced, President…

Five years after the US invaded and occupied Iraq, America suffered its second major crisis of the new millennium: the Global Financial Crisis. The facts of this crisis are familiar.…

“Someone detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come.” —Hillary Clinton. In 2008, Barack Obama won his campaign for the…

After Trump’s presidency began in January 2017, profound dismay enveloped liberal America. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest his win, expressing disbelief that their country had elected…

Right-wing politics during Trump’s first presidency often had an obviously pathological core. From the racist vitriol aimed at Chinese, Arab, Muslim, and Mexican people to the misogynistic violence perpetrated by…

Despite their concerns about MAGA’s incipient fascism, liberals failed to respond adequately to Trump and Trumpism during his first presidential term. This failure was ultimately caused by their investment in…

In the final year of Trump’s first presidential term, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe. The virus would go on to cause over seven million confirmed deaths worldwide by…

In 2026, the pandemic’s legacy remains uncertain. In 2022, President Biden simply declared the pandemic “over.”1 Lockdowns stopped. Vaccine mandates eventually disappeared. The virus became endemic and receded from public…

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” —Kevin Roberts.1 After Trump lost the 2020 election, the…

With the support of his libertarian-fascist coalition, Trump staged an incredibly unlikely political comeback in 2024. Shortly after he announced his intention to run for president in late 2022, Trump…

The Democratic Party suffered a resounding defeat in the 2024 elections. It was the first time in two decades that they had received fewer votes for the presidency than a…

“What a difference a president makes. A short time ago, we were a dead country. Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. The hottest.” —Donald Trump, 2026.1…

El Salvador In July 2025, Congress passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which he signed into law. The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency—created as a post-9/11…

Genocidal threats. Subverting electoral systems. The deputisation of ICE. Deporting migrants without charges. Murdering unarmed civilians. Reclassifying protest and dissent as terrorism. The endless evocation of threats, internal and external.…

Is Trump 2.0 fascist? In an interview published in October 2025, scholar of fascism Dylan Riley discussed this question. In Trump’s first term, Riley was a noted sceptic of the…

The Trump administration is undeniably illiberal and authoritarian. Officials have repeatedly telegraphed their contempt for the law and democracy. All branches of the government have collaborated to extend executive power,…