The first entry in the column Times of Tyranny, written by Ben Gordon.
'The truth is that the commonest response to violence is one
of repugnance, and that a significant number of people
everywhere try to oppose it in whatever way they can’ –
Amitav Ghosh.
On the evening of the 11 September 2023, hundreds of Chileans walked along the main boulevard of their capital city, Santiago, to commemorate fifty years since the murderous coup d’etat which ousted the old socialist leader, Salvador Allende, marking the beginning of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal seventeen-year dictatorship. Images of Allende, who killed himself that day, refusing the option to escape the building and abandon his people, were projected onto the walls, shifting across the facades to the rhythm of people’s footsteps. Out of a speaker came the muffled recordings of old speeches. A fragility hung in the air, along with the soft shimmer of people’s murmuring. Old friends embraced, others moved alone, accompanied only by their memories. Some danced beneath the remaining embers of daylight, others cried, tears rolling calmly down their cheeks. All the while, the crowd moved in slow but assured unison. There was a visceral sense of emotion, though precisely what it was I could not initially place my finger on. It lingered with me for several days after, until I reflected that what I had seen and experienced was the deep longing for a time when there was hope. That is, there was a nostalgia of hope.
The gathering offered a brief glimpse into the devastation which occurs when authoritarianism reaches its full expression. I also saw, on that mellow autumn’s evening, the ordinary people who existed and resisted the regime, and who continue to fight for social justice today. The stories behind what had previously been, to me, only broader political history and narrative.
*
We live in authoritarian times. After decades of warning about and failing to combat the rise of far-right politics and populism, the world is now dominated by these ideologies, with left wing and progressive movements struggling to contend with the potent rhetoric and politics of racist aggression, extreme nationalism and hyper-masculinity.
Left-wing voices are quick (and correct) to point out the similarities in policy and behaviour of many contemporary governments to the fascist rulers and other dictators of the 20th century. However, today’s authoritarian leaders and their supporters have, somewhat effectively, managed to laugh off these links as their ‘proof’ of left-wing ‘lunacy’ even as they openly express anti-democratic sentiment and violent rhetoric, and issue repressive policies and laws. This polarised debate demonstrates that despite the importance of learning from our history, relying on this as a central mode of critique is no longer viable (Behr, 2025) and, if anything, gives right-wing voices a strawman argument to stand behind. A quick look at Elon Musk performing the fascist Roman salute and justifying it by claiming ‘this “everyone is Hitler” attack is so tired’ is enough to demonstrate this. By endlessly arguing over how to categorise a certain government or group, we lose touch with the realities of how people are affected by, reacting to and resisting these political developments, which is precisely what figures like Musk want. This isn’t to say we should ignore the importance of historical analysis and memory. Rather, our arguments and comparisons must be more personal, compelling and convincing in order to effectively show why these governments and their politics are so dangerous and cannot be underestimated.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s illuminating book, Strongmen (2020), manages this. She explains in gripping clarity how the last century of global geo-politics has been defined by hyper masculine, authoritarian rule, from the fascist governments of Mussolini and Hitler in the early 20th century, to the ‘military coup era’ of leaders like Muammar Gadhafi in Libya and Pinochet in Chile. The 21st century authoritarian differs mainly in that they are initially elected via a democratic vote. They continue to present themselves as virile, as the saviour of the nation, and they continue to lay the blame for their country’s issues on migrants and other minorities. These leaders employ the same anti-democratic tools as their predecessors, namely repressive propaganda, corruption and violence. Silvio Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are part of this third wave, which has been described as ‘new authoritarianism’. Rather than revering figures like Trump as unique, her book reveals the clear and well-rehearsed playbook to strongman authoritarianism, which helps us understand how these figures gain power, maintain it and, eventually lose it.
The sense of futile, polarised and ineffective political debate is part of a broader tactic of imposed confusion and distraction which is central to many new authoritarians’ rule, perhaps seen most explicitly with the Trump presidency, but also with leaders like Putin, who funds various opposing left-wing groups in order to create a sense of chaos and division in opposition. Trump’s government purposefully overwhelms the media with a constant barrage of announcements, outrageous actions and distressing policies (Klein, 2025), creating uproar and then rapidly moving on to the next issue, preventing one from thinking coherently and critically and thus diminishing the possibility for democratic response. This also creates an image of immense power, with Trump presenting himself as an unstoppable force, despite the fact that many of these orders are being challenged and rejected, institutionally and through popular protest.
Many of us feel a growing hopelessness about the world, and a sense of profound fragmentation lingers, but there are avenues to challenge this. Shedding light on the institutional pushback against authoritarians demonstrates their weaknesses. Popular resistance, through demonstrations, collective action and solidarity between marginalized groups is growing, even if it continues to be overlooked my mainstream media sources.
In these columns, I will explore the stories and lives behind the chaos imposed by new authoritarianism from an international, particularly Latin American, perspective. Engaging with Latin American politics and lives is particularly pertinent given the lack of media attention from Western and European news outlets (if there is any reportage on this area, it is almost always related to immigration or other heightened moments of crisis). A year spent living in the Chilean capital, Santiago, opened my eyes to a more vibrant, active way of engaging with politics. I met many Argentinians throughout my year and spent some time there just after the election of Javier Milei, whose brutal destruction of the welfare state has been viewed as a blueprint by Musk and co. To begin this series, however, my first column will take us to Italy, an important starting point for any examination of authoritarianism. Today, Giorgia Meloni’s neo-fascist government maintains direct links to Mussolini’s fascist party, and operated in coalition with Berlusconi until his death in 2023. There is an element of personal connection with all of these countries. My English-Italian background and the annual visits to my mother’s family means the country is one which I am inextricably tied to, though simultaneously still a stranger. Teetering on the edge of belonging, of knowing, and yet at once detached from the intricacies of a life there. These columns are therefore as much an exploration and learning process for me as I hope they will be for the reader.
Each week I will explore a specific example of the impacts of new authoritarianism in these countries, primarily through interviews with friends living there, but also through related books and films. While these columns do reiterate the domination and irrefutable success of ‘strongman’ politics, shedding light on the struggles facing people across the world, they also speak to a politics of hope. From the roadside hamlets tucked away in the Andes, to the metropolises of Santiago, Rome and beyond, people are constantly resisting, surviving and fighting back. Engaging with these small pockets of light in an increasingly dark world can perhaps help us to drag that elusive ‘nostalgia of hope’ into the present. Sharing our stories
with one another is an important first step towards forging wider and more powerful lines of solidarity.
References
Behr, Rafael (2025). In the Musk Revolution, Lessons from the 20th Century will be Deleted. Guardian. (Available online:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/12/musk-revolution-lessons-20th century-deleted-far-right-silicon-valley)
Ben-Ghiat, R. (2020). Strongmen. [S.I.]: W. W. Norton & Company.
Klein, Ezra. (2025). Don’t Believe Him. New York Times. (Available online: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-trump-column-read.html)