Numerous articles have been warning against the rise of populist and fascist movements in times of crisis. That is very true. The best example to date remains the Nazi Party, which obtained only 2.8% votes in 1928 and was definitely out of the political game. The same Dobermann Gang received 18.7% votes less than two years later, only because in the meantime, the 1929 crisis had devastated the U.S. economy. The German banking system, which was almost exclusively financed by U.S. bank credits, totally collapsed. Everybody knows the rest of the story.
Chaotic situations usually provide a large margin for maneuvering toward radical thoughts and movements. Armed forces are the best-structured power to govern such chaotic situations. That is why in the world's political history, military takeovers mostly happen in the aftermath of such deep and sudden crises. Not only the coup d’etats, but revolutionary movements appear most of the time after structural and unexpected crises.
In today’s world, most of the major countries already have populist or authoritarian governments, some clearly leaning toward fascism. From the Russian Federation to the People’s Republic of China and from the Philippines to Brazil, there are deeply authoritarian or populist governments in place. The U.S. has an incredibly blunt and totally unpredictable administration with President Donald Trump. The U.K. is not better served with Boris Johnson. That sounds alarming, but at the same time, that also shows a less alarming perspective. With the coronavirus pandemic, public opinion will be able to evaluate the crisis-governing capacity of their governments.
To say the least, totalitarian regimes are absolutely unable to handle the situation, as well as populist leaderships in democratic countries. I had the opportunity to talk about it in my last article: The totalitarian regimes’ first priority is always to keep the regime going, to save the status quo. That is why there is widespread denial at first, among such leadership, concerning the pandemic. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei said first that the sickness was a “propaganda of the anti-revolutionary forces to prevent Iranians to go and vote for local elections.” China put in custody the first physicist who discovered the virus and alerted the authorities. The Brazilian president – whose rhetoric sounds more like that of a mob leader in a soap opera – still denies the existence of the pandemic and puts in danger the lives of tens of thousands of residents by not taking necessary preventive measures.
Trump, among others, refuted the allegations that the U.S. is under the threat from a very aggressive pandemic for a whole month. Then he totally reversed his position, after the spread of the virus among American citizens. He came up with a brilliant idea afterward to isolate the whole state of New York, only to decide that it was not feasible after a few hours. He still insists that the whole situation will be normalized by Easter, whereas no specialist in the world dares to give such a close deadline. He recently declared that hopefully, the U.S. would get out of this epidemic with a mere “hundred thousand deaths.” He has said it. In comparison, the Vietnam war, which claimed the lives of 60,000 Americans becomes obviously a “non-event” with such standards.
In the U.K., Johnson – who desperately wanted Brexit and who got it – despite all odds and desperate opposition, took the stance of “not intervening,” claiming that herd immunity would prevail after a few weeks of the epidemic. Seeing the tragedy of the people contracting the virus and losing their lives, he opted for a total reversal of strategy by imposing a curfew and isolation. In the meantime, he got infected with COVID-19, probably infecting his entourage as well.
The way populist politicians behave in the face of a virus is practically a schoolbook case of “what not to do in times of diseases.” Perhaps the aftermath of this terrible coronavirus tragedy will show the public just how shallow and dangerous populist policies and politicians can be in times when dire decisions need to be made.
Post-Scriptum: The French-Iranian academician and colleague professor Fariba Adelkhah is still being held hostage in her country by the authorities on the infamous grounds of spying. I have been informed that she was released from prison but held in house confinement, and she has started a hunger strike to protest and make her voice heard. The voice of a single academician can seem feeble, but it echoes all around the world. It is high time for the Iranian authorities to release her immediately and end this infamy.
