Stein is an organizational and political strategist who has worked with dozens of for-profit, not-for-profit and political and public sector organizations over the past 50 years. He currently serves as a researcher/writer, consultant and champion of the work of cross-partisan cultural and political organizations and initiatives.
The accelerating and dangerous rise of authoritarianism throughout the world is threatening the blessings of freedom, the human dignity of justice relentlessly pursued, and the governability of democracies, including our own. Current political, economic, social and cultural stresses and tensions throughout the world can no longer simply be explained by the obvious limitations of 20th-century-conceived ideologies, political parties, economic systems and cultural norms.
Rather, the great challenges of our time are between forces advancing freedom and justice versus those promoting division and exclusion — between political open-mindedness and those who promote narrowly conceived, rigid beliefs and certainties.
The central cultural and political struggles of this century are now between those who promote dialogue, deliberation and rational problem-solving to resolve our differences and those who demand allegiance to exclusive certainties fueled by nihilism, racism, nationalism, hatred of adversaries, violence, wokeness and cancel culture. The latter group ridicules and denigrates the unifying skills of collaboration, consensus and compromise with political adversaries.
The causes of these growing schisms across the globe include profound divisions among peoples, racial reckonings, economic inequalities, the disruptive human and environmental ravages of climate change, the destabilizing effects of mis- and disinformation spread by new technologies and social media, and fear of loss of status, change and displacement for many who have perceived themselves to be in the majority.
America’s constitutional republic form of government is being dangerously threatened by our unique version of these forces. As our country has become more diverse, our economic system less equitable, our political arena more tribal and coarsened, and our prevailing political, economic and cultural power structures more sharply challenged and directly confronted by forces across the political spectrum, the governing ideals, institutions and norms we developed in the last century are under growing assault.
Consequently, deep fissures have surfaced within both of our political parties, their abilities to deliberate and compromise with one another have seriously eroded, and visceral hatred for their adversaries is increasingly poisoning our politics. The fracturing Republican Party is practicing an increasingly scorched earth policy that is threatening the health and well-being of our constitutional republic. And Democrats are experiencing their own schisms that are challenging their ideological and political cohesion.
While Republicanism has been captured by radical authoritarian, nihilist and populist forces, Democrats also are threatening their continuing political capacity to agree on common causes or to address Americas’ shared desntinies.
The dangers to our republic are palpable. The decline of consensus, compromise and pursuit of common purpose, both within and between our two major political camps, poses grave dangers to healthy governance and the ability of America to thrive in the years and decades to come.
The urgency of now
The history of the world is a testament to the corrosive consequences of authoritarian populism, which, in all of its dysfunctional forms, denies freedoms, quashes justice, destroys human dignity and destabilizes democracies.
In America, the course is now clear. We must immediately and decisively confront and effectively compete with the forces and voices of authoritarianism by crafting a new, inclusive cultural, political and economic narrative — a 21st century vision of our country that respects our diversity of thought and opinion; acknowledges and honors our ideological differences; embraces love, not hatred; promotes unity, not division; and advances the practices of dialogue, deliberation and problem-solving across our many religious, racial, gender, ideological and regional divides.
“Unity” does not require “conformity.” Our differences and diversity are strengths, not weaknesses. The tenets of freedom, justice and opportunity for all animated the founding of our nation, are enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and can inspire a healthier, more secure and prosperous America in the years and decades to come.
That we are still struggling after nearly 250 years to realize these ideals is cause for hope and commitment, not distrust and despair. Our commitment to one another, to our prosperity and to a continuously evolving national purpose must never be reduced to the sum of our differences, nor abandoned in hopeless despair that a “more perfect” union can never be realized.
The foundation of a new, pro-democracy American vision, mission and strategy already is evolving:
A new pro-democracy vision. Anti-democratic, authoritarian populism must be confronted effectively in the months and years ahead by a new pro-democracy cultural and political alliance committed to America’s constitutional republic form of governance and devoted to a secure, collaborative and prosperous future that offers the fruits of freedom, justice, human dignity and opportunity for all.
Relentless pursuit of a pro-democracy mission. Our new American vision must animate a pro-democracy mission to create a healthy constitutional republic governed by an inclusive generation of duly elected representatives. Such representatives will commit themselves to the establishment of capacities, collaborations and cooperative ventures that identify, celebrate and elevate those in America who are advancing truth, trust, reason and civility and are building bridges among pro-democracy Republicans, Democrats and independents for constructive dialogue, deliberation and problem-solving in communities and nationally.
Mobilizing and implementing a pro-democracy strategy. This new pro-democracy force and voice is ready to be built in America. Its roots are taking hold in a range of existing, highly respected center-left, center-right, moderate and independent organizations with enlightened leadership ready for the challenges confronting our planet, country and communities.
This potentially powerful coalition of interests must begin mobilizing in 2022, strengthening and coalescing by 2024, and growing for decades to come to promote an enlightened 21st century pro-democracy agenda to confront authoritarian populism fueled by extremist forces across the political spectrum.
A more comprehensive strategy about how this inclusive, vibrant and effective “pro-democracy” force can be built in America will be published in early 2022.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.