Virility and victimhood – how do these seemingly opposite characteristics prop up strongman leaders throughout recent history? Expert and best-selling author Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat connects the dots in a conversation full of wisdom and, ultimately, hope that the current attempt at authoritarian rule in the United States is on the decline. The author of Strongmen: From Mussolini to Today, Ruth makes clear that war is often a cold-blooded tool of authoritarians – particularly if they see other means of consolidating power no longer work. Religious and spiritual language is also a near-universal tool in the strongman’s arsenal, making American Christian Nationalism just more of the same for anyone looking closely at the history of authoritarianism in the past century or so. Inevitability is a cornerstone of the image projected by strongman propaganda. As Ruth points out in her book, The authoritarian playbook has no chapter on failure. And so self-delusion is an important part of keeping an authoritarian takeover in motion: nobody can stop this. In fact, most people are enthusiastically supportive of anything …