Fascism: A Warning

Madeleine Albright is a former UN Ambassador and Secretary of State, with a long and honorable career serving the United States. Her personal history is compelling: born in Czechoslovakia shortly before World War II, she and her parents fled first Hitler and then, during the beginning of the Cold War, from Stalin. She did not learn until she was an adult that several family members, including grandparents, died in the Holocaust. This tragic history, combined with her astute intelligence and common sense, sharpens her pen and her powers of observation. Fascism: A Warning is her sixth book and is perhaps her most important work to date, as the world seems to face what many fear could be a long period of darkness.Albright is careful to warn against the indiscriminate use of the term "fascism," and she very properly begins this book with a discussion of its proper usage and meaning. Beginning with the origins of the term in the early twentieth century, she traces the development of Fascist regimes and leaders who promote Fascism, from Mussolini and Hitler through Stalin (who raged against Fascism while practicing it to an advanced degree) through to the present. Erdogan, Orban, Milosevic, the Kim dynasty, and Putin are some of the many practicing Fascists Albright covers. Donald Trump has a chapter devoted specifically to him, but Albright is not writing a partisan screed by any means, merely analyzing the man's behavior and actions and demonstrating their disturbing similarities to leaders who clearly practice Fascism. Perhaps the most important chapters are the final two, in which Albright enumerates the danger signs for the United States and the world and provides a series of questions to ask and steps to take for concerned citizens.This is a book written for the general reader which does not abandon scholarly rigor. It is extensively documented with a Notes section that will be an excellent resource for those of us who wish to learn and study more. In 2018 the way forward for the United States and the world is uncertain, but we are still fortunate (so far) to have strong and confident voices like Albright's to guide us.

This is a important book. If 20th century history was not your favorite subject in school, Secretary Albright offers us a very readable crash course, starting with Mussolini and the events that gave rise to Fascism and continuing right up to 2018. I did get a bit bogged down towards the middle of the book with historical details in Turkey and Hungary but it's all important and relevant to the current climate in the US. Make no mistake, Fascism is alive and well and it can happen here. Secretary Albright has illustrated the historical precursors to totalitarian rule, and they are happening all around us today. Unfortunately, the people who most need to hear and understand this message won't read this book and are dismissing it as an anti-Trump rant which it certainly is not. "If you pluck a chicken one feather at a time, people won't notice." Albright is asking us to wake up and notice the chicken pluckers before it's too late.

This is a timely book by a brilliant person who had a front row seat to the tragedy that was Europe in the Mid-20th Century. There is little doubt that the world is starting to look fearfully like it did at the beginning of those dark hours, starting with the tyranny of Hitler and Mussolini and culminating in the Cold War and the gulags of the Soviet Union.Figuratively speaking, this is really three books. The first will be the most divisive and may, in fact, quite unfortunately, relegate the book to practical irrelevance. The second book is extremely insightful and informative. And the third book, honestly, is pure gold and vintage Madeline Albright.The first book begins with a contradiction. Albright openly acknowledges that Fascism has become a meaningless epithet, hurled, as it is, by opposing politicians of every stripe and at parents merely attempting to limit the cell phone usage of their children. She goes on to defend the titular use of the term, however, by clarifying her use of the term: “To my mind, a Fascist is someone who identifies strongly with and claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use whatever means are necessary—including violence—to achieve his or her goals.”At that point, however, she hasn’t really narrowed the list of politicians who qualify for the pejorative label at all. Every reader will conclude that his or her political enemies fit the bill. She seals the fate of this portion of the book, however, when she asks, on page 4 of the book, “…why, this far into the twenty-first century, are we once again talking about Fascism?” And answers, “One reason, frankly, is Donald Trump. If we think of Fascism as a wound from the past that had almost healed, putting Trump in the White House was like ripping off the bandage and picking at the scab.” And she goes on to make thinly veiled comparisons between Trump, Mussolini, and Joseph McCarthy.And, unfortunately, I fear, she, in one fell swoop of prose, both fuels the fires of division while exiling the book to practical irrelevance. In the end, she will likely only energize both political extremes, and, I suspect, the reader ratings of this book will ultimately reflect that.That is most unfortunate because without those opening pages this would be a truly terrific book. It chronicles both relevant history and the recent past to a degree that few other people on the planet could.The second part of the book is devoted to an analysis of recent political events in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Venezuela, the Philippines, Russia, North Korea, and, of course, the United States. All, to varying degrees, she maintains, are showing signs of a slide toward Fascism and the decline of post-war liberal democracy. It is an informative analysis and unless you are a political junkie, you will learn a lot.In the third part of the book she truly hits her stride. She notes, for starters, that the Fascist epithet may be appropriate for the US today for reasons having more to do with economics than populism. The Fascist Party of Italy, which gave rise to general use of the term, was the ultimate merger of the corporate and political states. And that is, in fact, what has happened here in the US.The incorporation of America has been going on since the conservative movement of the 1980s, however, and while Trump is carrying the corporate water at the moment, he can hardly be blamed for allowing Wall Street and Silicon Valley to take control of Washington.The incorporation accelerated greatly during the dot-com 90s when young entrepreneurs were preaching disruption and libertarianism. It is ironic, indeed, that tech’s “democratic” perspective has now produced among the biggest and most powerful corporations the world has ever known. And they pulled it off, actually, while the anti-trust regulators in both Republican and Democratic administrations stood by and watched.To me what we have today is not so much analogous to the Fascist or Nazi parties of the mid-20th Century as it is the power of the church in Medieval Europe. The kings and queens of Washington may wear the crowns, but it is the corporate “popes” of Wall Street and Silicon Valley that are really calling the shots.Which is why both parties, I think, should be fearful of whatever happens in the mid-term elections. Be careful what you wish for. Neither party has defined an agenda that addresses the issues that originally brought Trump to power. And until that happens I believe Albright’s Fascist warning will remain valid.In the final chapters of the book Albright notes that putting American interests first invites Russia, China, and others to do the same. And it is here that she lowers her partisan guard (we all have one) and calls for unity through the recognition of our common humanity and the rejection of extremism that favors one group over another.It is here that she also seems to soften her position on ideals of post-war democratic liberalism and focuses more on compassion, integrity, and fairness. I think of it as defining a new standard of shared obligation and responsibility that includes those countries and those people that aren’t rushing to implement an Electoral College and to copy our form of bare-knuckle individualism, but those are my words, not hers.In the end she notes that spend her time on issues like: “…purging excess money from politics, improving civic education, defending journalistic independence, adjusting to the changing nature of the workplace, enhancing inter-religious dialogue, and putting a saddle on the bucking bronco we call the Internet.” It’s a perfect ending to what is a very good book by an inspiring individual.I do recommend reading it.

I bought this having seen Madeleine Albright on Andrew Marr, I never realised she was a refugee in WW2 so she has immense credibility on the subject. It is a book for our time, superbly written, MA is very knoowledgable academic as well as a a no nonsense pragmatist . Gives an insight into world events from the perspective of someone who is a world leading negotiator with immense wisdom and maturity.Its made me reflect on our times and the dreadful manipulative behaviours of politicians at home and abroad. She helps explains the patterns of those behaviours and how we should be alert to them (may be to late for us in UK). I cannot stress how easy it was to read yet gives a strong message with credible knowledge and experience, the book is properly referenced and has a real sense of strong principles and tolerance.Highly recomended

Fascism - I am still not quite sure what it is but this book seems as good a summary as any. A catch-all word, if your political views are to the right of mine, you must be a fascist, if, to the left, you must be a commie. Having lived through the great battle against fascism, there were no toys and no sweeties for us kids, it is concerning to see it rearing up again. Maybe I am too politically naive but to have Nazi Germany and North Korea under the same banner is not that helpful.Nevertheless, this book is a good summary of things that have happened and movements and qualities to look out for. Politics is undergoing great changes just now and our own democratic system is fraying a little. We have freedom of speech we think except that this and that and him and her should be banned from the internet for their views.Madeleine Albright is an intelligent author and has had experience and insights beyond the reach of most political writers. Perhaps I have been over critical but I enjoyed the read.

A Fascist is a person who has an outsize ego, is a bully and cannot stand anyone questioning them. This person could be a right winger or a left winger. Perhaps I am wrong but this is what I understood from reading this book. I see that someone has criticized the style of the writing as being too familiar but this is what I enjoyed. It made reading about these people more interesting to me. I think we are living in worrying times and I think we should all look out for the "feathers being plucked one by one"!

A well-written and readable history of Fascism, with surprising personal touches. Madeleine Albright was in Prague when the Nazi tanks rolled in, experienced the blitz in London, and had friendly relationships with many of the characters in her history, from Bill Clinton to Kim Sung Il.But her book is more than that. Banished after the second world war, Fascism is on the rise again, from North Korea to Hungary and Turkey, while a newly introspective America at best looks the other way, sometimes even offers encouragement. Madeleine Albright's book is a warning aimed at all of us to look up from our petty partisan bickering-- Fascism is not a disease specific to left or right -- and fight for our democratic institutions.

Please, anyone who is concerned about losing their freedom to the current rise of fascism around the world, especially in the USA, read this book. It is a well written analysis by a deep thinking, thoroughly erudite former stateswoman from America. It is an engaging read and hard to put down. For those who think Trump's tenure is a constant shambles, think again. He is following the path of the likes of Mussolini and Putin and, for every one who leaves his administration the replacement is someone who will follow his every word. Unfortunately, too many Americans regard this burgeoning dictator as a Messiah!