How is American democracy viewed overseas, and what can Americans learn from other countries with histories of political turmoil?
In his first term, Donald Trump tested democratic norms by undermining confidence in fair elections, encouraging political violence, and demonizing the media and public officials. He promised to become dictator on the “first day” of his second term.
As President Trump enters his second term in office, we asked political correspondents from newspapers around the world, from Hungary to El Salvador, to share their views on what’s happening in America.
These are countries that have endured strong leaders and challenges to democracy. Do they see parallels with what’s happening in the United States today? If so, what do you think the future holds for the world’s most powerful democracy?
András Pethő, Direkt36 (Hungary)
Americans need to stop telling themselves, “That will never happen here.” Anything can happen and we must prepare for the worst-case scenario.
In the first years of Orbán’s government, he proposed curbing the powers of the Constitutional Court and appointed a Fidesz lawmaker from Orbán’s party to the state auditor’s office. Audit bureaus are extremely important in controlling how public money is spent. , I thought, “In a democracy, something like this would never happen.” And we learned that really anything can happen. Because if they have power, they can and will do whatever they want.
Governments, government agencies, news organizations, all these organizations are extremely vulnerable. It’s very easy to disassemble.
The American news media scene is still much more vibrant and powerful than Hungary’s, so I think it will be difficult for Trump or anyone to take over. In Hungary, pro-government investors bought up all the local newspapers, only 19 of them. That doesn’t happen in the United States, but of course media crackdowns and the spread of propaganda can come in many forms. It could happen through X or it could happen through Facebook – that’s what I’m looking at.
Glenda Gloria, Rappler (Philippines)
The campaign and results were very similar to the 2022 presidential election. Leni Robredo and Kamala Harris decided to run late in the day, but if they did, they would energize a democratic base that everyone thought had become too cynical to participate in elections. turned into
But (bong bong) the Marcos-Trump story got a head start online and spread faster and more viciously than any amount of rooting could match. When combined with a climate of fear, anyone can bend anything. We’ve seen it for years under the Duterte administration, and we expect to see it in the Trump administration as well.
There is much to lose, and people who once valued due process, freedom, and responsibility can easily follow the orders of authoritarian leaders. Institutions that once protected the public interest can quickly turn against it. America is exposed to shocks to the system every day. We have known this since the Duterte era. The first two years were incredible: daily attacks on the media, nightly murders, harassment of big businesses, cooperation between police and military, and acceptance of China despite intrusions into its territory. They seemed unreal.
Has our world gone crazy? There it is. We look at America now and joke, “Should we do a workshop for our (journalism) colleagues?” It’s totally sad.
We are paying close attention to how disinformation and the networks that support it continue to support the Trump administration and Trumpism. It’s the belly of the beast. Because in the created real world, even the worst policies can be made right. How should Americans counter or respond to this? We need to bring to the surface real-world experiences and efforts that demonstrate good citizenship. Islands of hope.
Carlos Dada, El Faro (El Salvador)
If we can draw any conclusions about Trump from his first term, it’s clear that he has little respect for institutions and that his character is given an inordinate amount of weight in the execution of his presidency. I see nothing to suggest that his second term will be any different.
In the case of El Salvador, Nayib Boucle is exactly the kind of leader Trump loves. Mr. Trump embraces dictators and mocks democratic leaders, but Mr. Bukele is a dictator. World leaders like Mr. Boucle (I’m talking, of course, about Orban, Modi, and Putin) will feel more comfortable dismantling democracy with Mr. Trump and his presidency. .
For Mr. Trump, besides his personal affinity with Mr. Boucle, his agenda on Central America is essentially immigration and security. that’s it. Gone are America’s traditional post-Cold War agendas that emphasized democracy and human rights.
So as long as Mr. Bouclet continues to deter immigrants (who pass through El Salvador on their way to the United States) and effectively dismantle gangs, Washington will remain an obstacle for Mr. Bouclet in the process of democracy and complete dismantling. I don’t think it will. Turn El Salvador into a dictatorship.
Vinod K. Jose, former editor of Caravan and author of a forthcoming book on Indian democracy (India)
President Trump’s strategy, like that of other powerful dictators, has been to engage with voters on a level of emotion rather than reason, and on a level of fiction rather than fact. These are some rules of strategies that autocratic leaders always use to come to power.
With Trump’s return to the White House, we are witnessing a defining moment in history. A third wave of anti-democracy is coming. The first two waves of anti-democracy were Mussolini’s victory in the 1920s and Hitler’s seizure of power in the 1930s, culminating in World War II. A second wave of anti-democracy occurred in the 1960s with the rise of military regimes and the Cold War. overthrow an elected government. Currently, countries such as India, Turkey, and the Philippines are already under the control of anti-democratic forces, and Trump’s victory will put power in the hands of dictators around the world.
Biden’s time in office is an opportunity to systematically alter world history, reflect on how Trumpism gained so much support in 2016, and correct the holes that were funneling votes to Trump. , it was God-given time.
In that sense, the opportunity lost in the Biden era is that the Indian population lost power during the two Hindu right-wing governments, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (1998 and 2004) and the Narendra Modi government that came to power. This is comparable to the 10 years spent by the Congress Party. The National Congress party came to power in 2004, but did nothing to address the roots of the right-wing forces or win over sympathetic Fence supporters. Forging cultural and social alliances. result? Modi, a more radical leader than Vajpayee, came to power with more popular support. Ten precious years of history have been lost.
I’m concerned that 10 or 20 years from now, people will look back and say that the Biden era didn’t accomplish anything that would prevent a Trump presidency.
Fernando Peinado, El Pais, author of “Trumpista”: “What about President Trump?” (Spain)
While much of the coverage of Trump and the rise of the far right focuses on the economy, I wonder if enough is being said about the profound changes that have occurred over the past decade: the earthquakes within the media ecosystem.
Smartphones and social media played a bigger role in 2016 than in previous elections. That accelerated everything. The news cycle has turned into a news cyclone. This helped candidates who relied on their intuition.
Since that election, we have seen victories for populist and far-right candidates elsewhere. In Spain, the far-right Box, which had previously been very fringe, rose to prominence in 2018. Something deep is changing, and the US and UK, perhaps with Brexit, are just two early examples of what is to come. Canaries in the coal mine.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of (Francisco) Franco’s death, and the legacy of Francoismo is currently a highly polarizing topic. What is new is how polarized the Franco issue has become. For decades, there seemed to be a consensus that Francoism was a dark age for Spain. But now, with some Tory members reluctant to commemorate his death, Vox is an outspoken defender of his work.
Their statements in support of Franco haven’t hurt their approval ratings, and that’s because of all the strange things happening in the US, Trump doing unprecedented things that were taboo in previous eras. is related to.
Answers have been edited and condensed
