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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/30/former-us-ambassadors-warn-authoritarianism>
"The US is treading the path followed by democracies that descended into
authoritarianism and dictatorship, former ambassadors to countries that
underwent autocratic takeovers have warned.
At a panel discussion held to mark Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office,
four ex-heads of American embassies in countries that had experienced swings
away from democracy said the current domestic political landscape felt eerily
familiar and was pervaded by a “climate of fear” deliberately created to make
opponents “back off”.
The four – who served in Russia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe and Nicaragua – were
addressing a panel discussion in Washington entitled “Hey wait! We’ve seen this
movie before: How democracies descend into dictatorship.”
They were among more than 200 retired US ambassadors and diplomats who signed
an open letter calling for urgent action to challenge what they called Trump’s
“assault on democracy”.
“We swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign
and domestic. Foreign and domestic. None of us thought the second part of that
phrase would ever come into play – until now,” the signatories wrote.
Asserting that US global power and leadership was underpinned by a “moral
foundation”, they added: “That moral foundation is now in grave danger. The
challenge comes from within, as President Trump and his administration have
assaulted the pillars of our democracy here at home and our strength around the
world.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
