In claiming the election was “stolen” from him and using the office of the president to the benefit of his family, Trump dips into the authoritarian playbook to convert power into property.
White supremacists clash with police in Charlottesville in 2017.
Evan Nesterak/Wikipedia
Despite moments of hope, worries about the present and fears that the future may be even worse have been rising for decades. What can geopolitics teach us about the global impact of fear?
Trump yells while visiting a portion of the border wall in Alamo, Tex. on Jan. 12, 2021.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Donald Trump has become the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. But the ignorance and lawlessness of Trumpism will have a dangerous afterlife even after Trump has left Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting in Osaka, Japan, June, 28, 2019.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has exposed the fragility of democratic institutions, mirroring a global trend in authoritarianism, and that will have a lasting effect on the United States.
Nine months into the pandemic, Indonesia has seen serious threats to civil liberties, involving not only privacy but also freedom of expression and of the press in the digital realm.
The transition between Donald Trump and Joe Biden has formally begun, yet the outgoing president still refuses to concede. How far can he go and has such a situation been experienced in American history?
John Magufuli (centre) waves as he arrives to give a speech at a campaign rally in August 2020.
President John Magufuli won a second term by a contested landslide and looks set to take even greater control of Tanzania’s democratic space.
U.S. President Donald Trump waves to supporters as he departs after playing golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling Va., on Nov. 8, 2020. Trump is refusing to concede the election, a common tactic of authoritarians.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Trump is reminiscent of strongmen like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A good portion of the electorate like what he’s selling anyway. That’s a bitter pill for the U.S.
President John Magufuli has closed down all the reliable means to evaluate allegations of foul play.
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As key opposition members lose seats in their strongholds, it is clear that Tanzania’s ruling party is set to establish a super-majority that will institute a deeper authoritarian agenda.
U.S. President Donald Trump staged a visit in front of St. John’s Church June 1 in Washington after authorities cleared protestors from the area, prompting the bishop overseeing the church to express outrage.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Republican political strategy that uses Christian language to cast Trump as a divinely appointed protector of an authoritarian Christian nation warrants more scrutiny than it’s received.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Carson City Airport on Oct. 18, 2020, in Carson City, Nev.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Americans can survive a second Trump term if they resurrect a language of critique and possibility that draws from history and shields the U.S. from authoritarianism.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters on the campaign trail in late September.
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Jack Vowles, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington e Jennifer Curtin, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
His populist style made Winston Peters the kingmaker in New Zealand politics, but a new kind of populism may dethrone him in 2020.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko takes the oath of office during an unannounced inauguration ceremony Sept. 23 in Minsk.
Andrei Stasevich\TASS via Getty Images
A proposed new law could increase state control over social media, amid an effort to curb criticism of the Erdoğan government.
European Council President Charles Michel (R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speak as they attend a news conference following a virtual summit with Chinese President in Brussels, on June 22, 2020.
Yves Herman/Pool/AFP
Long lenient toward China, Europeans have recently taken a firmer approach. Beijing’s conduct during the Covid-19 pandemic and its general intransigence have had a lot to do with this.
Sophie Marineau, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
The Covid-19 epidemic has given rise to an avalanche of fake news, and accounts managed by Russian interests lead the way. How does this misinformation work, and what are its aims?
All is not as it appears on social media.
filadendron/E+ via Getty Images
A social media researcher explains how bots and sock puppet accounts manipulate and polarize public debate.
Burundi’s president-elect Evariste Ndayishimiye signs a condolence book for Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza.
(Photo by Evrard Ngendakumana/Xinhua via Getty)