The End of Pax Americana; But What will Take its Place (Keeping the World Company - recorded on 1/15/2025). The hosts for this show were Jay Fidell and Tim Apicella. The guests were Jean Rosenfeld and Manfred Henningsen.
The discussion was: Our panel discusses the dying of the Great Generation and how it is a sea change in American domestic and foreign policies. Trump’s
re-ascent marks a new turn away from the Pax Americana to an era of isolationism and libertarianism that may engage our adversaries in a way that is different from the hostile status we now call hybrid war.
What will the ascent of 'populism' in the West bring, and should we also consider a rival hypothesis to the effect that the radical right in Europe and the US are a resurgence of fascism in a different guise.
There is evidence that MAGA and Trump will enable similar movements, especially in Europe, that would allow Trump to become the leader, not of a free world, but of former democracies moving to authoritarianism.
Is America returning to Mussolini’s worldview, with grievances over WWI, institutionalized propaganda, assignment of blame to a scapegoat, and the ultra-nationalism and territorial expansionism that grew out of the unresolved issues of WWI.
Today, we grapple with unresolved issues from WWII; Russia's grievance over having lost the Cold War, the challenge to international institutions by the Internet and the impact of refugees on nativist populations.
That kind of fascism may appeal to aggrieved populations in democratic societies where grievances are allowed to be aired and to reach critical masses of uninformed or badly informed dissenters.
In addition, the rise of Trump as a charismatic leader with a sociopathic personality and a gift of communication that enables him to reach and consolidate voters is a 'Black Swan' event not unlike Hitler and Putin.
Our panel considers both of these hypotheses in the context of current events in the US, where Trump takes office and begins to execute his promises to the MAGA movement he continues to dominate.
The takeaway was: We are at a crossroad of history, and we must be alert to the sea changes and possible directions it may take.
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The hashtag keywords for this show are: #Manfred_Henningsen #Jean_Rosenfeld #Greatest_Generation #sea_change #American_domestic_and_foreign_policies #Trump’s_re-ascent #Pax_Americana #isolationism #libertarianism #hostile_environment #hybrid_war #populism #radical_right #resurgence_of_fascism #MAGA_and_Trump #free_world #authoritarianism #Mussolini’s_world_view #grievances_over_WWI #propaganda #assignment_of_blame_to_a_scapegoat #ultra-nationalism #territorial_expansionism #unresolved_issues_of_WWII #Russia's_grievances #Cold_War #international_institutions #Internet #refugees #nativist_populations #aggrieved_populations #democratic_societies #badly_informed_dissenters #charismatic_leader #sociopathic_personality #gift_of_communication #consolidation_of_voters #'Black_Swan'_event #Hitler #Putin #crossroad_of_history
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