We asked critics from authoritarian regimes what they wish they’d known sooner. Here’s what they said

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 04:45:47 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/experts-authoritarian-regimes-trump>

"Donald Trump makes no secret of his admiration for strongmen like Hungary’s
Viktor Orbán or El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. Last month, he praised Orbán’s
hardline stance on immigration and urged European leaders to show more
“respect” for the president; earlier this year his administration struck a deal
with Bukele to send more than 200 detained migrants to a notorious,
maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

Many international organizations, experts and historians have sounded the alarm
about the United States heading in a similar direction as these authoritarian
regimes.

Nearly a year into Trump’s second term, the Guardian asked activists and
opposition leaders from Hungary, El Salvador and Turkey what their experiences
have taught them about authoritarianism – and what they wish they’d understood
sooner.

Americans “should look to other countries, especially in the global south for
solutions and for what not to do,” said Ece Temelkuran, a Turkish writer and
author of How to Lose a Country. “Drop the arrogance, drop the
exceptionalism.”"

Via Brad Koehn and Susan ****

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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