Der Spiegel lead article: “How Fascism Begins”- An ideological ahistorical piece of sophistry

In a recent Spiegel magazine (Nr 34,17.08.24) the lead article was published under the title “How Fascism begins” with the byline “The secret Hitlers” (the article was accompanied by photos from Trump, Meloni, Putin, Orbán, Geerd Wilders, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Marine Le Pen, Thuringia’s AFD chairman Björn Höcke – an illustration that meant to insinuate today’s “secret Hitlers”, looked at from the eyes of Der Spiegel.

The article is an ideological, confused piece of sophistry, that lacks any profound historical knowledge about how fascism came into being in Europe, in particular in Germany. The writers, Spiegel journalists- Lothar Gorris and Tobias Rapp (one of them working in the cultural department of “Spiegel”)  concocted their study by referring to the writings of U.S. Neocon ideologue Robert Kagan, husband of the infamous Victoria Nuland (“Fuck Europe”) that exerted a terrible influence as Undersecretary of State in Ukraine from 2014 till April 2024. The piece incidentally confirms what the well- known journalist Glenn Greenwald (friend of Edward Snowden and a prominent researcher) revealed some days ago about the recent DNC and Kamala Harris’ foreign policy speech August 22^nd. As he emphasized her speech was filled with words like “freedom” as well as the announcement that under her leadership as commander-in-chief of the armed forces she would make sure that the US fulfills its global leadership role around the globe and that the Armed Forces remain the best armed force in the world. According to Greenwald Harris’ speech may well have been written by “Neoconservatives” from the Republicans- among them many who came out in full support of Harris’s candidacy such as Condoleezza Rice and Adam Kinzinger (Rep Illinois) who both spoke at the DNC. There is in reality no difference between Harris verbiage and those neocons. According to Greenwald, who presented clips from Harris’ speech, the framing of her speech fits very well with what the defenders of the U.S. “invisible government” consider as ensuring a “continuity” in US foreign policy, that around the globe engages in endless wars and conflicts in order to defend “freedom” and ensure “US hegemony around the globe,” while at the same time it cooperated with autocrats and dictators that overthrow freedom and democracy.

The leading U.S. neocon which Der Spiegel refers to several times is political scientist Robert Kagan who became known for his strong advocacy of war against Iraq (2003) despite the fact that the pretext for this horrendous US invasion with hundred of thousands of victims, was based on “fake” news. A horrendous mistake which put Kagan in disgrace for a while until he revived himself again.

The Spiegel essay begins by referring to what they call the “primal-fear” (Ur-Angst) of modern democratic societies which always fear that they could fall back into fascism. As examples for such a fallback they enlist: President Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions; the Indian PM Narendra Modis nationalist Hindu Government in India; the electoral victory of PM Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d’Italia); Marine Le Pen’s (Rassemblement National RN) “strategy “ in France;  Javier Milei’s (rightwing libertarian party) victory in Argentina; Victor Orbáns (Fidesz Party)- at present EU council chairman- and his autocratic rule in Hungary; the comeback of the FPÖ in Austria or Geerd Wilders in the Netherlands, the AFD in Eastern Germany;  the threat of a reelection of Donald Trump; the  attacks of British mobs against migrants; the  pandemics, the war in Ukraine and inflation (!).

It’s an unbelievable hodgepodge which leaves out one simple fact, namely that a significant part of the European and German electorate, that have obtained between 20- 30% of the votes in the various regional parliaments and nations during the last months and years-  out of frustration about the arrogant behavior of a corrupt and incompetent political elite is totally blocked out and suppressed as a political factor. A majority of the European and German population is by now increasingly stressed with the Ukraine war and the endless weapon deliveries as well as with the pretension that Europe does this in “defense of our freedom” without any diplomatic effort visible.

Who is Robert Kagan?

According to Spiegel, Kagan was born in 1958 in Athens, his Jewish ancestors came from Lithuania. He is considered as “expert” in US foreign policy and supported George Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (both catastrophically failing, since the reasons to go for war were based on “fabricated lies”, but up to this day Kagan is “in favor of an American interventionism and the global leadership role of the US” (like also former CIA director Robert Gates, Antony Blinken and Condoleezza Rice). Kagan is working now for the liberal think tank “Brookings Institution.” He is quoted for having once said: “We lived during a time where one could believe that the upswing of free democracies with their universal human rights would be inevitable and unavoidable.  But this isn’t the case. Its upswing was result of historical events like the great depression and of the second world war which was fought in the name of freedom and created an entirely new and better world.”

According to the Spiegel authors, Kagan thinks that freedom is difficult, it doesn’t offer a sense of security. It atomizes societies, tears down hierarchies, deprives old institutions of power, like a religion. Freedom has many new enemies. It has to constantly be defended against those enemies. In his new book “Rebellion -How Anti-Liberalism is tearing America Apart – Again” (April 30, 2024) Kagan describes “Christian white nationalism in America as counter- conception to liberal democracy”. A country for which the bible is more important than the principle of US independence and constitution. “Trump is for the Christian nationalists an instrument: He doesn’t care about the norms and values of liberalism and constitution, which is why he is supposed to lead this revolution,” the Spiegel authors state.  According to them Kagan believes that if Trump were to win the presidential elections, the old system would get destroyed. He would try to take revenge against his enemies in the justice department, he would militarize migration policy and march against hundreds of thousands of illegals.  The migrants would lose their civil rights.

The authors further make reference to US intellectuals like Jason Stanley, from Yale university, philosophy department (a liberal leftist, whose father being from a German Jewish family was 1938 forced to emigrate into the US, where he worked as sociology professor after the war.) Jason Stanley essentially defines fascism in his recently published book “How fascism functions” along 10 characteristics. This includes among others that fascism is a “Leadership Cult” that promises a humiliated nation to get reborn. A nation feels that for example humiliated because of leftists, liberal minorities, homosexuals, women in the media and schools that have taken over the institutions.  Fascist propaganda presents the adversary as a threat for its own existence and tradition along the line “they” against “us”. The Führer determines what is right or wrong. “Fascism lies. Truth (sic) is at the center of democracy.”  Furthermore, fascism would be based on hierarchies and ignores equality. White Americans are victims of black Americans and feminism. Fascism wants law and order and it hates cities as places of decadence, of the elites, migrants and crime.

Another typical expert referred to by Spiegel is Timothy Snyder, known for his very obsessive articles and film reports about Russian President V. Putin, whom Snyder calls “Fascist”. Snyder is Prof. of Eastern European history at Yale University and he wrote books, like a book about “Tyranny” 2017. When he met Zelenskyy, he was told that they had read his book on tyranny. According to Snyder a victory of Putin would be the end of democracy Ukraine.

Instead discussing “war and peace” – German SPD advocates “reactive communication”

It is obvious that the Spiegel essay is an attempt to “preempt” things that may develop in the US and in the Eastern part of Germany in the upcoming elections on September 1. and 22^nd. It is however curious to note that the same Spiegel in a separate report about the SPD election campaign in Saxonia, Thuringia and Brandenburg, reports that one cannot see any public debate about the war in Ukraine. That there is hardly any mention of the Ukraine war – even though this is real t h e subject that is burning most on the minds of people. It is further reported that the SPD headquarters in Berlin gave out recommendations (in written form) that discussion about the Ukraine war should be kept out. Instead, there is the recommendation of “reactive communication” i.e. only if specific questions were asked about the issue, answers should be given (!). This is indeed an astonishing “defensive” attitude, which obviously reflects the tremendous unease which SPD people feel when it comes to issues like Ukraine war or the stationing of US missile on German soil. In former times there would have been stormy debates about this. In reality the whole thing is an indirect admission that something is “going awfully wrong” in Germany which will have consequences.  A similar attitude to avoid important issues are shown by France’s President E. Macron who after three months is still incapable to form a government, as well as by Ursula von der Leyen (EU Commission President) who irrespective of the new composition of the European Parliament pretends that nothing has happened and insist that arms will be further sent to Ukraine and who rejects and “appeasement policy” (an indirect reference to Victor Orban.)

Kagan and his “Project for a New American Century”

In an article published by Samuel Moyn February 14 2023 about Robert Kagan in “The new Republic” a profile was given about Robert Kagan who earned a lot of fury after the Iraqi war together with his fellow neoconservatives from the American liberals for instigating too many catastrophic foreign interventions based on war mongering et cetera.  The article in New Republic emphasizes at one point that it was Kagan who advocated war against Iraq by linking Saddam Hussein to the 9/ 11 attacks.  The New Republic states at one point that Robert Kagan “constructed himself as defender of American liberalism” against threats within and without. His thinking is based on the belief “that the greatest armed power in history is the exceptional and indispensable force for global freedom.”

In 1997 Kagan and William Kristol cofounded the “Project for a New American Century” which essentially called for the Republican Party to put “American global leadership” at the center of its foreign policy and recommended Saddam Hussein’s removal as well as George Bush’s response to 9/11 attacks. Among the 25 signers of the PNAC there were aside Kagan, Kristol, also the notorious Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney.   Among the first statement of principles 1997, they described the US as the “world’s preeminent power” and said that the nation faced a challenge to “shape a new century favorable to American principle and interests.”  The signers called for a significant increase in defense spending, and for the promotion of “political and economic freedom abroad”.  It said that the United Sates should strengthen ties with its democratic allies, “challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values” and preserve and extend “an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity and our principle.” As one can read explicitly in Wikipedia: “A multipolar world has not secured peace, but has always led to wars.” (!)

In a “Policy Review” in summer 2002 Kagan attacked Europeans for hesitating to join the war in Iraq. He proposed, “the United States had remained manly (!) through its militarism, while Europeans had turned feminine (!) and passive under the chivalrous guardianship of their American protector. Our major strategic and international questions today, Kagan wrote is:  “Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus.” (sic)

According to a NYT profile early 2014, it was noted that Kagan was always looking for a “climate to again make the case for interventionism”, he began taking considerable plans “to describe his advocacy as “bipartisan”, uniting interventionists of the center left and center right in a common front which included teaming up with Antony Blinken(!), Joe Biden’s future secretary of state, to reclaim the U.S. mission.”

In a WAPO article 2019 Kagan in a 9000 words piece stated that the core of world history is the contest between “authoritarianism and democracy. “We return to the familiar and fundamental task of keeping autocracy and despotism in check.” Kagan’s view is widely shared, as Bidens last State of the Union address showed: “In the battle between democracy and autocracies, democracies are rising to the moment… We will save democracy.”   In other words, Kagan has connections to the Biden administration. Not only his former co- author, Antony Blinken, now Bidens Secretary of State, but Kagan’s wife Victoria Nuland has been deeply involved in the Ukraine policy under the last democratic presidents.