Origins: Are Strongmen Born or Made?

The Washington Roundtable discusses Donald Trump’s recent “explosion of the ego” and tendency toward megalomania, and they consider how the evolution of autocratic regimes in history can help us to predict how the rest of his Presidency may unfold. They are joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, who is the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.” The group looks at how, as autocrats’ popularity decreases—as Trump’s has recently in the polls—these figures develop paranoia and entrench themselves in untenable positions, a phenomenon called “autocratic backfire.” “The key is that they end up constructing a kind of echo chamber. And so they overestimate their own abilities,” Ben-Ghiat says. “They start to believe their own propaganda.” 

This week’s reading:

• “ ‘If We Don’t Have Free Speech, Then We Just Don’t Have a Free Country,’ ” by Susan B. Glasser
• “Pam Bondi’s Contempt for Congress,” by Ruth Marcus
• “Is There a Remedy for Presidential Profiteering?,” by David D. Kirkpatrick
• “What Does Xi Jinping Want?” by Isaac Chotiner
• “Bad Bunny’s All-American Super Bowl Halftime Show,” by Kelefa Sanneh
• “Jeffrey Epstein’s Bonfire of the Élites,” by John Cassidy 

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

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