Friends, colleagues, readers…
I’m coming out of the closet. Over the last eight weeks I’ve begun this newsletter, the Authoritarianism Project. It is free, and I’m asking you to sign up.
Why are some people stocking guns while others run from tear gas? Why are nameless paramilitaries in unmarked vehicles grabbing people off the streets? Why is a leader trying to move the date of an election?
For two decades I have answered these questions in other countries—I reported on dictatorships, authoritarian regimes, and closed societies from Yemen to Burma, Columbia to Cuba, and especially the jails, guerrilla camps, and slums of the Global South. From murders in the Amazon to gang war in Rio, these stories were always about the thread that connects violence in bad places to the responsible people far above. In the Philippines, Brazil, Turkey, and other sore spots, I described the methods and cynical appeal of political violence, strongman rule, and authoritarian domination.
I spent the last year at the University of Michigan, on a Knight-Wallace fellowship to study the theoretical side of this. To back up my street reporting, I interviewed experts, read deeply, and worked with leading professors in the fields of political science, history, literature, and the psychology of authoritarianism.
This spring, America caught up to me. I was in Lansing, Michigan for the armed protests that took over the state capitol. In June, I was in Idaho for a militia conference where 800 gun-toting right wingers debated Black Lives Matter. By summer, I was running from anonymous federal troops in camouflage in the streets of Portland. My lessons about tyrants abroad are now crucial in the USA.
My newsletter is a preview of these topics, my reporting, and the narrative and arguments from my forthcoming book. I’m writing that book now; it has the working title “Deathsquad Democracy,” and I argue that yes, political violence is becoming a normal part of majoritarian democracies around the world, including ours. This week’s contribution is my “Battle of Portland” discussion with Daniel Klaidman and Mike Issikoff of YahooNews, on their podcast Skullduggery.
Meanwhile, please subscribe. I promise one email every Sunday, which may lead to a section of my book, the draft of an article on authoritarians, my latest interview with figures from the right wing militia movement, or scenes from the extremist rallies and left-wing protests and foreign battle zones I have been reporting in. You’ll see I have started with posts on topics from why violence is necessary in democracies, to the lessons of Cuba. Your feedback is essential, so sign up, help me shape and cover these ideas, and turn the Authoritarianism Project into a reality.
—Patrick Symmes