Colleen Browne's Reviews > Fascism: A Warning

" I will tell you what has carried me to the position I have reached. Our political problems appeared complicated. The German people could make nothing of them....I, on the other hand..... reduced them to the simplest terms. The masses realized this and followed me."

A quote from Hitler but without the reference to Germans, could be the words of Trump. In its simplest terms, this seems to be the attraction of fascism. Madeleine Albright's book is a reasoned, well-layed out account of the rise of fascist leaders over the last century. It appears at times when there is conflict and confusion in a country, where people seek out easy answers to complicated issues. Always the diplomat, Albright is very careful in her descriptions of the people she profiles but always gets her point across. The book is as much a description of how real diplomats approach problems as it is about the problems themselves. It forces the reader to reflect on personalities and events and reach reasoned conclusions. But it is also a warning- to the American people- about the very real possibility that unless we learn to work more diligently toward solutions in a democratic fashion, we could end up being the country we do not want to become.
The election of Trump has accelerated the move toward fascism. His behavior has led to a steep and stunning decline of respect for America; causing some to ignore us and solve their problems on their own. At no time in modern history, has the U.S. been seen in such a negative light and because there are "leaders" in many parts of the globe who are moving in the same fascist direction, the world is a less safe place than it was previous to his taking office. By comparing the behavior of other fascist leaders throughout the 20th Century to current conditions, the author makes her point and does it in a very readable fashion.
Where I find fault with the book is where Albright goes down the path toward equivalency in American politics. That is, she seems to think that the left is as responsible as the right for this trend. This is one instance where I think she erred in trying to be too diplomatic. The fact is, the move toward extremism has been on the right. The left has often times been too cowardly to stand up against them. Still, her narrative on the efforts of Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Carter demonstrate the kind of thoughtful engagement from which resolutions can be found.
Overall, this is a book that I would highly recommend to a general audience as well as to academics.