Cihan Tuğal

The victory of right-wing populism in America took half of the nation by surprise. If contextualized in a world-historical manner, however, it is far from shocking. In a nutshell, the boom-and-bust cycles of the neoliberal era have exhausted themselves. Economic crisis does not directly translate into a broader political problem, but the (post-1970s) ideological attack against all forms of collectivism have deprived humanity of centrist and left-tinged ways...

Turkey’s sharp authoritarian turn has surprised many observers: not so long ago, the country was celebrated as an exemplar of liberalism that stood out in a region marked by turbulence. Analysts now seek the causes of this transformation in President Erdoğan’s personality or exceptional characteristics of Turkish culture. But an analysis of liberal success itself gives us more clues (and forebodings for the democratic West). “Liberal...