by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Dec 12, 2016 | Propaganda
CNN.com, December 12, 2016 It sounds like something out of a political thriller. A union leader calls out a politician for lying about the number of jobs he is saving with a deal. The politician retaliates by insulting him publicly on Twitter. Within half an hour, the...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Nov 14, 2016 | Forecasts
CNN.com, November 14, 2016 Anyone who is surprised at the appointment of right-wing guru Steve Bannon as the Donald Trump administration’s chief strategist and counselor has been living in an alternate universe, the universe in which President-elect Trump would...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Oct 26, 2016 | Gender Politics
CNN.com, October 26, 2016 Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House and former professor of history, showed a lack of leadership and a dated knowledge of current American realities in his now-viral exchange with Megyn Kelly. Interviewed Tuesday night on “The...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Aug 10, 2016 | Forecasts, Global Authoritarianism
The Atlantic, August 10, 2016 Fascism has been back in the news with Donald Trump’s candidacy for the American presidency. His populist claim to speak for the white everyman, along with his menacing leadership style, have brought forth comparisons among this... by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Mar 3, 2016 | Forecasts
CNN.com, March 3, 2016 Donald Trump this week retweeted, and then defended, an Italian popular saying made famous by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” Questioned about retweeting the...
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Jan 15, 2016 | Forecasts
Huffington Post, January 15, 2016 Cults of personality: the term might evoke dictators like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Kim Jong-un today. Yet cults of personality can flourish in a variety of political contexts, as long as there is...
