Fascism: A Warning

I don't normally read political writing, but this book was so interesting. It was published in 2018, and it frighteningly foreshadowed many of the events that have taken place over the last four years. The structure was well thought out, starting with the inception of fascism, moving mostly in a linear fashion. There were also other types of political and economic systems exemplified with other world leaders, and Albright highlights how they overlap. There is a bit of a preferential tinge from her political perspective, but I feel she tried to remain unbiased for the most part. Her own family's history as victims of fascism makes her a credible writer on this topic.

In the present political scenario, the word Fascist is thrown around like candy - a person whose views we disagree with is labelled as one (sometimes even used outside politics), and hence the impact of the word is reduced by a large amount. Albright, having lived through truly fascist regimes, examines in detail which people or governments should be assigned the label, and makes a strong case for democracy in the process.

The book deals with a brief introduction of the fascist regimes of the 20th century, such as Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy - and then proceeds to examine how democracy was systemically undermined in today's fascist-like regimes in Russia, Hungary, Turkey, North Korea and Venezuela. The book's ending chapters deal with the US - as a case study in how supposed bastions of democracy are getting battered by relentless attacks on their institutions by their own leaders.

Albright comes across a true-blue diplomat - unlike her fellow Democrat colleagues, when asked to give a direct answer on whether Trump is a fascist, she answers along the lines of ‘no, but...'. Although she accepts the fact that democracy has its own share of problems, and often gets undermined by red tape, accountability, and listening to fringe concerns - she asks the reader whether they have grown too impatient in demanding to be told ‘where to march', and whether citizens have grown so cynical that they want their leaders to subvert democratic institutions altogether.

The author describes herself as an ‘optimist, who worries a lot'. We have a lot to worry (and introspect about), true. Chauvinism and jingoism seem to be the torchbearers of the present age, what with the constant cries of ‘insert your country here first!', and Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racism on an unprecedented rise. The wearily optimistic tone of Albright's prose made me think, however, that maybe democracy is not completely on the wane after all - for that alone, this is an amazing read. If one is even slightly interested in politics, this is worth the time put in.

Albright writes clearly and saliently on a topic she has seen grown and change through her lifetime in politics and political thought. She walks us through her definition of fascism and then takes us on a trip around the world to see it in action, from Duterte to Kim Jong Un, and then spends a lot of time discussing the developing political atmosphere in the United States. She laments the fall of the US as a world leader, the loss of trust in our government from other leaders around the world, the dubious position our democracy is currently occupying, and what it would take, in her eyes, to bring it back from the edge. She does not hold back on her opinions, but she is also very diplomatic. And she highlights exactly why she thinks America is in such a dubious position not based in our political leadership, but based in the way we interact with one another when it comes to politics. Contempt, she argues, is one of America's defining political attitudes, and that is largely what allows us to be so strongly divided by bad actors in our current political landscape. Well worth the read.

I listened to this on audiobook narrated by the author and I loved it. I think that she has a natural gift for making history accessible as she covers major fascist regimes from Nazi Germany up to Putin's current regime in Russia, analysing their impact and how they relate to modern fascism. Really informative and interesting, particularly for the parts of history that I am not so well versed in. Albright envisions a future where either the extreme right or extreme left takes control and society ceases to function, coming to the hopeful conclusion that by taking the best ideas of the right and left and by not allowing Trump or Putin to destroy American democracy, we can make things better but that Human rights are the responsibility of all.