What Occurs When a Megalomaniac Begins to Fail

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The Washington Roundtable discusses Donald Trump’s latest “explosion of the ego” and tendency towards megalomania, and so they think about how the evolution of autocratic regimes in historical past will help us to foretell how the remainder of his Presidency could unfold. They’re joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of historical past and Italian research at New York College, who’s the writer of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Current.” The group seems to be at how, as autocrats’ reputation decreases—as Trump’s has not too long ago within the polls—these figures develop paranoia and entrench themselves in untenable positions, a phenomenon referred to as “autocratic backfire.” “The secret is that they find yourself establishing a sort of echo chamber. And they also overestimate their very own talents,” Ben-Ghiat says. “They begin to consider their very own propaganda.”

This week’s studying:

“ ‘If We Don’t Have Free Speech, Then We Simply Don’t Have a Free Nation,’ ” by Susan B. Glasser

“Pam Bondi’s Contempt for Congress,” by Ruth Marcus

“Is There a Treatment for Presidential Profiteering?,” by David D. Kirkpatrick

“What Does Xi Jinping Need?” by Isaac Chotiner

“Dangerous Bunny’s All-American Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present,” by Kelefa Sanneh

“Jeffrey Epstein’s Bonfire of the Élites,” by John Cassidy

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