I read this in the final months of Trump’s reign of terror. Way too close for comfort. More moderates need to figure out how to satisfy the disenfranchised. And what is it with this hunger for Power? I’d way rather cycle or kiteboard. ( )

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. ( )

1900-talet präglades av drabbningar mellan demokrati och fascism. Det var en kamp om den mänskliga frihetens överlevnad – en kamp som ledde till miljontals oskyldiga människors död. Med tanke på dessa fruktansvärda upplevelser är det lätt att tro att vi idag skulle förkasta ideologiska arvtagare till Hitler och Mussolini.

I boken Fascism: En varning använder Madeleine Albright sina egna barndomsupplevelser från ett krigshärjat Europa och sin erfarenhet som framstående diplomat till att tydligt visa att vi inte lärt av historien. Fascismen har inte bara levt vidare, den är i dag ett större hot mot internationell fred och rättvisa än vid något annat tillfälle sedan andra världskrigets slut.

Fascism: En varning är en angelägen kampskrift för vår tid, skriven av USA:s första kvinnliga och mycket populära utrikesminister. Boken inleds med ett specialskrivet förord till de svenska läsarna.

A history of fascism highlighting how it often creeps in with men who’ve been legally elected. A warning that Albright had planned on writing regardless of who was president. A warning to help heat up people’s love of democracy. A warning that it could happen here. I’m not willing to bet it can’t happen here. Are you? ( )

Having recently bought three books on the growing influence of national populism on present day global politics ("National Populism" by Roger Eatwell, "Whiteshift" by Eric Kaufmann and this one), this was the second one I picked up. I enjoyed Eatwell's book as it explained four main reasons for the growing influence of populists around the world rather than sticking to the superficial and standard narratives of "ignorance", "racism"or "failure to appreciate the benefits of increasing globalism"). I was expecting to get some additional insights from Albright's book on when or whether national populism tends to evolve into fascism and where the meter stands now. I was somewhat disappointed with the first 200 pages being a string of stories of historical and present day fascist leaders, autocrats, leaders of totalitarian states and governing strong men. The likes of Mussolini and Hitler thus serve as introductions to the likes of Milosevic, Kim, Erdogan, Orban, Putin and finally, Trump.

The main insights of the book aren't provided until the last two, very well-written chapters of the book, after which I feel one still needs to connect the dots oneself. Having read "How Democracies Die" by Steven Levitsky last year, I think we are forced to appreciate the fact that the political institutions of US politics and democratic systems in general are far from watertight. Any failures of these institutions can quite easily lead to a collapse in fabric of the democratic system in itself. To a large extent, forebearance is actually the key success factor in maintaining and protecting a democratic system rather than laws and regulations. Once a powerful chararcter manages to rise to the top and starts to "rattle the chains" of the institutionss of free press and an independent judiciary, one should take heed and step up to the defend them. The fact that American politics has become so partisan leaves its democratic system in a fragile and parlous state, as it is hard for a bipartisan agreement to be reached to oppose the president in a concerted effort. After reading Albright's book, I'm left convinced that the only reason that the democratic institutions of the US are holding at the moment are due to the incompetency and flawed character of the current person in office. Were the current resident of the White House to be at all competent, the state of the US would have been considerably more worrisome. I will need to revisit this book at some time after having read "Whiteshift", but for now this is my least favourite of the thee abovementioned books. To be continued. ( )