Thoughts on "Fascism, A Warning"

Fascism, A Warning, By Madeleine Albright


Madeleine Albright’s latest book "Fascism, A Warning", is mainly just
that. An alarm bell for liberty lovers and “lowercase D democrats” that
the warning signs which anticipated the arrival of history’s most
famous Fascists are present and thriving in the United States and
Europe. Apart from being a love letter to democracy and liberalism,
the book starts with a pocket history of the lives and rise to power
of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, and reviews the political and
socio-economical context which led to their unraveling. Their stories
are then contrasted with other examples of authoritarian leaders, whom
she doesn’t qualify as all-out fascists, but rather as having ceded to
some autocratic tendencies. Hugo Chavez, Slobodan Milosevic, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin make the list, as does Donald Trump,
whom she qualifies as “the first anti-democratic president in modern
American history”.

This leads us to what I believe to be the main angle of this book, the
current American presidency. For her, Trump is anti-democratic because
of his constant praising of autocratic leaders, his vendetta against
the press, and his constant disdain towards democratic institutions,
as well as his alarmist view of the United States as being victim to
some unknown “others”. On these fronts, it is hard to disagree with
her. There is no doubt that Trump’s stances ridicule the role the US
is supposed to play as the world’s bastion of democracy, his use of
Twitter as his main foreign policy tool has alone hurt America’s
credibility more than it shows. And whatever you may think about
his decision regarding the Iran Deal, its hard to argue it was conducted
in the most respectable fashion towards our European allies.

There are two reasons Albright sees this as dangerous. One: Fascism
doesn’t arrive overnight, and implements itself little by little,
“plucking the chicken one feather at a time.” And Two: that the US is
a trend setter. If Trump allows himself the mildly anti-democratic
urges he is prone to, other countries with less robust institutions
are more likely to follow suit, and descend closer into full fascism.

This last point, which puts the US at the forefront of international
affairs, seems dear to her. She refers to the United States an
“indispensable nation”, essentially echoing the view of W.E.B Du Bois,
the American civil rights activist: “Either the United States will
vanquish ignorance, or ignorance will vanquish the United States.”

Recognizing the United States as being primarily responsible for
maintaining the standard of democracy and liberty throughout the world
is a stern reminder to our Libertarian isolationists friends that our
role on the world stage is still vital. She pairs this opinion with a fresh and crisp
brand of rational internationalism and cooperation, producing the sort
of foreign relations worldview that  any freedom-loving globalist
would cheer at.

Her recollections of many of these world leaders are quite poignant.
Her personal anecdotes about Putin, whom when claiming Russia to be
closer to Europe than China claimed: “Sure, it's fun to use
Chopsticks, and i've been doing judo for a long time, but this is
trivial stuff, our mentality is European.” or Kim Jong Il who
apparently told her in a meeting in 2001: “ We want to do business
with the United States, i try to convey this message before through
the South Koreans, but Americans always respond with suspicion, like
a jilted girl” add an almost humane touch to these personalities,
opening up a tiny window into the everyday thought processes of these
men, and a glimpse at their humor.


For Albright, fascism is not merely an ideology, but rather a
willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve one’s end. This
definition is far from satisfying as it omits the importance of
ideology completely. One of her major omissions is her failure to
criticize the one pernicious brand of fascism oppressing billions
today: Islamo-Fascism, which contrary to Albright’s definition, is
deeply ideological. There is not one criticism of  Islamic governments
and their doctrinal influences on terrorism. How she can ignore the
one billion people currently living in an autocratic cult-like
religious system opposed to democratic thought is baffling considering
the aim of the book. She warns multiple times against “islamophobia”,
as if contempt towards a religion is the same as contempt against a
people. This effort to avoid upsetting the politically correct, left
me unsatisfied.

In a final salvo to future leaders she offers this advice: Check your
own autocratic impulses, rely on democratic institutions, don't play
into people’s fears (Hello religion!), and stop plucking the fucking chicken.

On that last point, we agree.