Michael Peel of the Financial Times | The Fabulists | The autocracy virus | European values | Muscat of Malta | Kaczyński of Poland | Orbán and Salvini | Trump at NATO | Modernizers | Historians | Existentialists
Michael Peel of the Financial Times unpicks the patterns underlying the authoritarian revival in Europe and worldwide. His recently published book, The Fabulists, explores how leaders menace democracy and human rights while claiming to be modernizers and saviors. It's an artfully written journalistic memoir from a decade of foreign correspondence. It's also a cautionary tale about how quickly countries catch the autocracy virus. Among Peel’s most conspicuous warnings: Europeans who think they are immune, are wrong.