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Podcast | 25 September 2026

The Women Leaders podcast: The demise of democracy with Marci Shore

Democracy Podcasts Russia United States Senior Associate Fellow Podcast


As the world appears to stumble from crisis to crisis—conflicts, economic woes, or ethnic violence—it can sometimes feel as if we are living through the 1930s again, albeit in a rogue AI version.

Whilst specific crises can be analysed and rationalised, there is a constant sense of déjà vu: a rise in fascism, total disrespect and disregard for norms and rules, and adoration of power for its own sake.

Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, many argue, has led the field in all three of these areas while also pursuing the goal of undermining democracy elsewhere. More worrying, perhaps, is the rise of these inclinations in the US, with speculation of Russian interference but also entirely self-imposed.

To understand the severity of the moment and to examine how we got here, no one is better qualified than Marci Shore, Chair in European Intellectual History at the University of Toronto. An expert in fascism and a keen observer of reality, she helps put past and present in perspective in a conversation that ranges from Chekhov through Sarah Palin to Ratko Mladic.

This episode was recorded on 24 September 2026

Chapters

  • Diplomatic language and the return of political bluntness
  • Trump and the rejection of rules
  • Does history repeat? The 1930s, patterns, and what is new
  • Post-truth politics and how the internet floods the zone
  • American democracy and structural weaknesses with the rise of the new right
  • Europe’s far right and the danger of normalising the abnormal

Mentions

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Credits

The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.

Image credit: Florence Ferrando

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