This Is Fascism

Fascism is back. This time no swastikas or concentration camps, but MAGA hats and masked immigration officers. In his second term, Donald Trump is putting together a fascist regime. Not only Trump's political adversaries say so; his own former advisers do, too. Internationally renowned scholars--experts in the field of fascism--say the evidence is overwhelming: Fascism is on the rise, not just in the US but around the world. Political scientist Rosan Smits topples the strongly held conviction in the West that our established democracies are immune. They are not. Fascism wasn't just born in the West; it's where new variants are being incubat-ed. And these modern variants pose a threat not only to our national democracies but the international rules-based order built on law and human rights. The illusion that "it can't happen here" makes us vulnerable and apathetic, precisely at a moment when action is still possible. Standing up against emerging fascism requires collective action. Nothing is inevitable in politics, and fascism doesn't stand a chance if enough people understand that an attack on one person's freedom is an attack on everyone's freedom. If, in short, enough people understand: This is fascism.

Rosan Smits is a political scientist and has conducted research on radicalization and violence in war zones for many years. She led the Conflict Research Unit at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. Since 2017, she has been deputy editor in chief of De Correspondent.