In case anyone is still wondering whether the United States has transitioned to authoritarian rule, I previously listed funding foreign think tanks as 1 of the 20 modern techniques of autocratic innovation. Paper available here - 61eb8c0a-6652-49a6-902e-3063f76b517e.filesusr.com/ugd/ca20d0_a...

I give it less than three months before CBP/ICE are authorized to quell mass demonstrations (under the pretext that such demonstrations are disrupting immigration enforcement operations). Many innocent people will die.

We had three papers under review in APSR, AJPS, and JoP & every time a new tranche of reviews came in they just magically whittled away until they were rejected. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove it? No.

The fact there are infinitely more people discussing the Epstein files (which Trump has been removed from) than participating in a spontaneous protest at the Kennedy Center (which Trump is going to destroy and plunder) says everything about the state of authoritarian rule in the United States.

Does this also mean the media is going to stop making awful comparisons between Trump’s America and Orban’s Hungary? What about Erdogan’s Turkey? Modi’s India? So much unhelpful analysis of non-democracy in recent years. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

"The media tends to treat Trump's more insane statements as ephemeral, but then turns around and treats his climb-downs as binding....This is a mistake, and a dangerous one....It's a form of sane-washing....It contributes to the authoritarian's progress." www.thebulwark.com/p/how-the-me...

I really think there needs to spontaneous protests against ICE happening right now in front of every federal building in the country and especially in Washington D.C. Otherwise those opposed to the Trump administration will not gain enough momentum or control the narrative.

No one told me we were going by country, rather than by individual. I proudly stand by my list! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MATTER.

In announcing the final makeup of the board, Trump highlighted how Putin will be joined by other distinguished individuals, including Genghis Khan King Leopold II Caligula Pol Pot Lucky Luciano Curtis LeMay Tony Blair Sauron Hernán Cortés Count Dracula Benito Mussolini Henry Kissinger Thanos

America is afflicted by a rare combination: early-stage authoritarianism, but with a late-stage dictator. Think El Salvador today ruled by a crazy Papa Doc Duvalier. While chaos is the defining feature of this struggle, pro-democratic forces can still prevail… www.thebulwark.com/p/crazy-or-c...

Any far superior writers out there who want to present their Pulitzer Prize to me? Will go to a happy home.

Has any country ever been in both a civil war (say Minneapolis) and a foreign war (say Greenland, Iran, or Venezuela) at the same time?

The worst opposition party in the history of democratic backsliding.

I’d add that when regimes are transitioning to authoritarian rule, the government faces the problem of transmitting propaganda without having sufficient control of the media. So calling an innocent women a left-wing agitator strikes people as outlandish. It fails to sow enough cognitive dissonance.

I wrote this article about ICE becoming a secret police force in April last year. It is crucial to the Trump administration’s repressive apparatus. The murder of Renee Good is a sad, infuriating, and yet entirely inevitable event. She won’t be the last 🤬 theconversation.com/how-ice-is-b...

What happens next? Trump admin does not recognise Delcy Rodriguez (or removes her from office) Announces Venezuela’s constitution is abolished Trump declares himself the country’s ruler Holds a Saddam-style referendum on his rule (>90 percent of the vote) Demands to be officially called emperor

America has so clearly betrayed its self-proclaimed exceptionalism that it has nothing left to offer the world You cannot be a unique experiment or an exemplar nation or on a divine mission when you are just like every other belligerent empire that has risen and fallen Begone to your dictatorship

Some strong New Light of Myanmar vibes coming from CBS Evening News these days.

So easy… From Consultants with Love Consultants are Forever The Consultant with the Golden Gun Consulpussy Consultant Never Dies Quantum of Consultants

If only.

The ‘No Kings’ protests have been important, but smaller, more sustained acts of resistance have proven successful in other countries around the world. 👉 theconversation.com/has-the...

PUBLISHED! My latest piece addresses the inactivity and passivity of the anti-Trump resistance. From my vantage point, it is not doing enough 🫣 I highlight seven lessons from those who have resisted authoritarian rule around the world. theconversation.com/has-the-trum...

PUBLISHED! My latest piece addresses the inactivity and passivity of the anti-Trump resistance. From my vantage point, it is not doing enough 🫣 I highlight seven lessons from those who have resisted authoritarian rule around the world. theconversation.com/has-the-trum...

Happy to announce that I have received an @erc.europa.eu Consolidator grant for the project "Authoritarian Threats to Scientific Knowledge". AutoKnow will study how authoritarian regimes and politics affect scientific progress, contents and topics in different fields. www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/...

A bet these guys would have been great friends.

What happens when you combine @jacobnyrup.bsky.social fondness for turning dictators into Pepper Pig characters with my PowerPoint slides for the course I teach, Way of the Dictator. You get one of the greatest collaborations in the history of comparative authoritarianism 😆 @chknutsen.bsky.social

I’ve lost track of how many times Orban’s regime has been used as a model for Trump’s regime. That comparison has never made sense; it has a laziness about it. Trump’s rule is not sophisticated like Orban’s Instead, pick a 1970s African dictator and you will find Trump’s inspiration. Warts and all

Good riddance! Nine months on and I think my argument that DOGE was an attempt at state capture (and not a coup) has held up well. The actions of Musk and co. have clearly produced worst decisions, less accountability, and more corruption. theconversation.com/is-elon-musk...

Like I said: The thing about "bad" authoritarianism is the transparent nature of its repression, whereby dictators target their perceived enemies without a plausible justification for doing so. It is a sign of a weak regime. When you fool no one, you become the fool.

Trump plastering his orange face all over US currency will be put him in the same company as some of history’s worst dictators, including Mao Zedong, Bashar al-Assad, and Saddam Hussein. It is a sign that political power is personalized. people.com/donald-trump...

Like I fucking said.

I’ve been commissioned to write an op-ed on why the resistance to democratic backsliding in the United States is failing (and what to do about it). Given the many American friends and colleagues I have, it just won’t be an enjoyable piece to write 🙃

Just getting out in front of everyone to say that I think Trump will propose building a new capital city by the end of his term (if there is an end). Washington D.C is a crime-ridden hellhole etc etc, and America needs a big, beautiful city etc etc.

In the transition to autocratic rule, independent media outlets face a choice between (1) resisting and eventually facing consequences; (2) self-censoring and hoping to survive; and (3) becoming a propaganda arm of the new regime. @washingtonpost.com = 3 www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

This tactic is used by dictators to fragment the internal security apparatus and consolidate power. In Zaire, Mobutu kept kept the huge personal fortune he had amassed from pilfering the country’s diamond and copper exports as a ‘rainy day’ fund, which included paying the army’s wage bill.

Trump's abuse of democracy is so normalized right now that everything is up for grabs. If there are not mass protests against forced disappearances, gross media censorship, and overt corruption happening daily right now, there won't be protests against him staying in office in a few years time.

I don’t think anyone will try stop him from staying in office beyond his term.

Marcos: I will award loans to people acting as fronts for my interests. Yanukovych: I will misuse carbon-emissions allowances. Suharto: I will create charities for businesspeople to make donations. Baby Doc: I will take a bit off the top of all foreign aid. Trump: Just give me the fucking money.

Are there any spontaneous mass protests at the White House yet?

Here is an actual image of the national media cycle quickly moving on from the No Kings protests...

“When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement,” DHS’ Tricia McLaughlin asserted, “while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by highly sophisticated gangs.” By @davidmcswane.bsky.social @hannahallam.bsky.social

The only time those opposed to Trump captured the national media narrative was at the last No Kings protests (14 June). It lasted about two days and then everything defaulted back to the status quo. A social movement is essential to ousting Trump, but so are several other tactics I am not seeing.

A far larger problem than her indictment is that most Americans could not name the last five "opponents" the Trump administration has targeted using lawfare. America is so far down the rabbit hole of normalizing abuses against democracy that, sadly, this event will eclipsed by the end of the week.

“The bees are in the what now?”

Has America’s descent into authoritarianism gone quicker than I expected? Yes Did I think Americans would be more resistant to democratic backsliding? Omfg yes Is written criticism of Trump redundant? Yes Can expert opinion break through the noise? Maybe Do I think a fascist regime is next? No

Any spontaneous mass protests happening in front of the Supreme Court? No?

The thing about "bad" authoritarianism is the transparent nature of its repression, whereby dictators target their perceived enemies without a plausible justification for doing so. It is a sign of a weak regime. When you fool no one, you become the fool. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

If you thought Trump's press conference was filled with incompetence, recklessness, and cruelty, that's because being a "mad king" is part of his persona. I try to make sense of Trump's two-headed autocracy in this @thebulwark.com piece from last week... www.thebulwark.com/p/crazy-or-c...

Does anyone know if there was a single *spontaneous* mass protest anywhere in the United States on Saturday? This is really important for gauging the level of resistance to democratic backsliding…

Trump is an agile, cunning, sophisticated would-be autocrat like Orban something something… Can we stop this charade already? Stop giving him so much credit? He is a bull trying to rearrange a china shop. He could be easily defeated.