If 2025 was already shaping up to be the worst year of the century for the international system established after WWII, recent days proved to be among the most devastating so far. Israel deepened its disregard toward global agreements after deploying 10 fighter jets to Qatar, striking representatives from Hamas participating in peace negotiations within Qatar’s capital. The final significant platform for diplomatic negotiation appears to have gone up in smoke.
At least 19 Russian drones breached the territorial skies of Poland. In an unprecedented move, allied military aircraft were deployed to counter hostile objects within the borders of a member nation. Whether the incursion resulted from an error or deliberate probing from Russia, according to analysts in the West, this was the nearest the world has come to open conflict since the second world war,” Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, stated.
And then, a prominent conservative voice, a firebrand conservative activist and staunch supporter of Trump, was shot dead while addressing university attendees and political followers on a campus in Utah. Without evidence regarding the perpetrator or motives, the former president quickly accused left-wing extremists,” claiming they of rhetoric that led directly for the terrorism occurring currently across the nation now.”
Asked how a polarized country might reconcile following the murder, he responded he “couldn’t care less”. The reasoning provided for that was chilling: “The radicals on the right are radical because they don’t want to see crime … The radicals on the left pose the real threat – and they are vicious and horrible and strategically clever.” In this manner political division transforms into group mentality. Thus the spiral of hatred accelerates toward a point of no return.
In reality, more than three-quarters of all extremist-related killings in the US over the last 10 years have come from rightwing extremists, with the radical left responsible for only a fraction of these incidents. The former president denounced political violence broadly the following day – but did not acknowledge the recent spate assaults against Democrats, which involved multiple murders. From his perspective, the issue remains always “them”, never the loyal supporters who make up his base.
The political and cultural aftershocks from the assassination will no doubt unfold in the coming weeks, but the biggest danger amid deep divisions is that the shooting becomes the Reichstag fire of our age. That arson attack which occurred in early 1933 signaled Germany’s shift away from democracy toward autocratic rule. The Nazi leader, freshly installed as chancellor, seized the moment to eliminate basic rights of the Weimar constitution – expression, press, association, assembly.
“Anyone who stands in our way shall be eliminated,” he declared, inspecting the arsoned building. Thousands of communists were jailed, including all 81 Communist deputies in parliament. With the left neutralised, the ruling party quickly cemented control.
In today’s US, Kirk’s death has captivated the nation, energizing political bases and Trump’s supporters, and he knows it. The white supremacist, Matt Forney, demanded detainment of every Democratic politician, explicitly labeling the murder as a pivotal turning point.
In truth, this incident serves as that could rescue an increasingly unpopular presidency plagued with a sharp drop in job numbers, currency devaluation, and real estate turmoil. The former president grieved like a lost relative, but the rhetoric implied it might become as much about pursuing Trump’s enemies as justice. Right after the murder, Trump promised to pursue “each and every one involved directly or indirectly to this atrocity … even groups that fund and support it.” He specifically mentioned a billionaire philanthropist, the American-Hungarian philanthropist and Democrat donor. He is dangerous,” he informed a news outlet, he deserves imprisonment.”
The motive behind Kirk’s killing remains unclear. Ideological leanings belonging to the attacker, a young individual, appear as muddled as those of another recent perpetrator, a young man who tried to kill Trump at a rally. Does this represent left-wing extremism targeting right-wing figures – or rather an obscure online culture from internet forums entering the real world? Phrases etched on to ammunition shells at the scene read less like a political statement and more like a mix of immature jokes and gaming references.
But it is hard not to fear that the repression of “unwilling” academics, lawyers, media workers, government employees, armed forces members, and judges across the country may increase. Thus far, online responses have led to a wave of sackings and US state department officials have warned foreign nationals against endorsing or joking about Kirk’s assassination, directing embassies to take “appropriate action” against any foreigners engaging in such behavior.
Trump has long thrived amid turmoil and instability. Where real crises do not exist, he fabricates them – including imagined crime pandemics in major cities, Washington DC and urban centers. Manufactured unrest advances his ambitions. Currently, he possesses chaos on a silver platter. No wonder he shows no concern if the nation comes together.
The shooting offers an ideal justification to strengthen control, silencing dissent, and concentrating power – enabling future leaders may inherit full state control, regardless of personal appeal, merit or electoral support. Ultimately, all authoritarian regimes has to be built first; after consolidation, it becomes far easier to maintain.
Democratic systems and the rules-based global order have flaws, yet they provided stability, advancement and prosperity – the antithesis of dictatorial rule. To suggest that America, a founder of modern systems, might rapidly descend into complete dictatorship, its leaders thinking like Nazis in 1933, could appear unlikely.
However, alternatively, it is not far-fetched at all. Authoritarian rule remained recent history during the upbringing of individuals within contemporary Western nations were growing up. Across European states, numerous households have some history of fatalities, devastation, animosity and destitution resulting from oppressive regimes. To safeguard coming years, they may want to consult historical lessons.
