Professor of History and Italian Studies, New York University
Guest Speaker - Class of Fall 2022
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian Studies at New York University, where she focuses on authoritarianism, democracy protection, and propaganda. The recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other fellowships, she is an opinion columnist for MSNBC and a regular contributor to CNN and the Washington Post. Ben-Ghiat also publishes Lucid, a newsletter about threats to democracy. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present (2020), looks at how illiberal leaders use propaganda, corruption, violence, and machismo to maintain power, and how such rulers can be defeated.
20
Oct
22
Mercedes-Benz Foreign Policy Forum
Strongmen: How They Rise, How They Rule, How They Fall
In this talk, Ruth Ben-Ghiat lays out the "authoritarian playbook" – violence, machismo, corruption, propaganda, and coercion, which strongmen use to obtain and stay in power.
20
Oct
22
Strongmen: How They Rise, How They Rule, How They Fall
Strongmen rule in some of the most geopolitically important nations of the world. Understanding how they think and how to push back against them is essential. In this talk, Ruth Ben-Ghiat lays out the “authoritarian playbook” – violence, machismo, corruption, propaganda, and coercion & ...