The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett Pulitzer Prize Historian: You Won't Notice Until It's Too Late!
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May 11, 2026 
Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winner and historian of authoritarianism, explains how democracies are quietly dismantled. She discusses corruption, paramilitary growth, media capture, election attacks, and why allies are hedging against the U.S. She warns democracy erodes slowly and outlines the key tactics autocrats use.
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How States Force Business Handovers In Hungary
- Applebaum recounts a Hungarian CEO forced to sell after harassment escalated: broken windows, kids harassed, regulatory attacks, tax inspections.
- The state used legal and extra-legal pressure to seize businesses close to power.
Presidential Business Deals Create Kleptocratic Risks
- A sitting U.S. president running businesses while in office creates unprecedented conflict-of-interest and kleptocratic incentives.
- Applebaum links Saudi investment in Kushner's fund to political access rather than pure business reasons.
Russia Invaded To Crush A Democratic Example
- Applebaum frames the Russia–Ukraine war as an ideological battle: Russia invaded to crush a democratic movement that threatened autocratic rule.
- She connects Russian action to fear that liberal democratic ideas could inspire street revolutions at home.
