Contemporary dictatorships no longer content themselves with locking opponents in cells. They build a total prison, a sprawling system in which every individual — opponent, journalist, exile, but also loyal supporter of the regime — is imprisoned in another kind of cage: fear, guilt, uncertainty, pain, compromise. It is a machine that crushes everything, like an industrial fishing net that selects nothing: it catches the targeted fish, destroys innocent species, scrapes the s

The current political situation in France is often described—wrongly—as a major crisis . In reality, it represents a painful but...

A Lost Battle Against Bad News and Social Media In politics, not all news is created equal. A “good news story” – a successful reform, a...

Between Frozen Authority and Absolute Domination The distinction between dictatorship and totalitarianism is fundamental to understanding...

Democracy is often wrapped in a moral halo, as if its mere existence guarantees justice, equality, and dignity. But democracy is not...

The Case of Western Sahara and the Prospects of the New Russia–West Rivalry The 20th-century Cold War, which pitted the United States...

From Latin America to the Arab world, passing through Africa and Asia, anti-Western sentiment is on the rise, often expressed vehemently...

The Soviet Union—and later Russia—did not simply export weapons, ideology, or military aid to the developing world. It exported something...

At a time when social media overflows with flag-waving emojis, chest-beating declarations about the "purity" of a nation, and hollow...

Throughout history and into the modern day, many regimes have built their authority not on the freely given consent of the governed, but...

Since the end of World War II, a large part of Western populations — especially in Europe and North America — has followed a relatively...

In contemporary history, there is a recurring and troubling phenomenon: authoritarian regimes reclaim, after their death, writers,...

When the fake slips into the real There is a discreet yet destructive phenomenon eroding even the most discerning consumers’ trust:...

If animals could speak, or if we could truly read their minds, humanity would face a harsh mirror: the realization that much of what we...

Dictatorship is not merely a machine of repression. It is also a laboratory of compromise. It creates conditions in which survival—moral,...

How Social Media Enabled an Authoritarian Shift The concept of the Overton Window describes the range of socially acceptable ideas in a...

History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Observing Donald Trump's communication and persuasion methods, the parallel with...

The idea that some communities could never integrate into France is a rhetoric that resurfaces regularly in political and media...

We often hear that a political position or a contradictory line of reasoning is "schizophrenic." However, this clumsy simplification...

Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying, "The 3 forces that rule the world are stupidity, fear, and greed." Whether or not he said this...