Ruth Ben-Ghiat

“Trump does nothing by accident. The use of repetition – a propaganda mainstay – points to an intention by Trump to impose a way of thinking about his designated targets.”

“Trump’s history of public admiration for Xi Jinping as a repressive ruler who may stay in office indefinitely sends a clear signal of approval for anything Xi does to show his strength, including any military action in Hong Kong.”

“War evokes our sense of national identity, establishes an “us vs. them” framework and forces us to choose sides.”

“In the past, there was this idea that Mussolini copied Hitler, but it was actually the other way around for a very long time. Mussolini was in power 11 years before Hitler.”

“The way Benito Mussolini got power in 1922 is a cautionary tale for the rest of the 20th century and today.”

“Many of the signs and symbols of Fascism are back.”

“The history of fascism is a history of dictatorship, of leader-worship….This book is part of this phenomenon that’s resurrecting the cult of the leader.”

“He [Mussolini] was the first person to turn a democracy into a dictatorship.”

“The League is the most dangerous, anti-democratic force in Italy right now and naturally well placed to be riding the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim wave that’s buoying the right in Europe”

“The stability and monumentalism of these male heads and male torsos is comforting to young men as a model of a great man. A warrior — the beautiful, perfect male who is ‘European.’ The joke is that the purity never existed in these cultures, so it’s quite a fantasy, but it’s a compelling fantasy.”