'The first order of business is to redouble every effort to preserve American democracy'

'Democracy is not over'

Tom Nichols at The Atlantic

An "aspiring fascist is the president-elect, again, of the United States," says Tom Nichols. But "Trump's reckless venality is a reason for hope." He has the "soul of a fascist but the mind of a disordered child." Trump "will likely be surrounded by terrible but incompetent people," and "all of them can be beaten: in court, in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public arena." Nothing is "inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight."

Read more

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Is the US becoming more like Nigeria?'

Nosmot Gbadamosi at Foreign Policy

U.S. elections "matter to African nations because they serve as a barometer for democracy," says Nosmot Gbadamosi. Often, "polarization, disinformation, and hatred have marred Nigerian ballots — often resulting in violent protests and the refusal to accept election results," and "other familiar practices, such as vote buying, are now being observed in the U.S. campaign." But the "United States can also learn about accepting ballot results from recent elections in Senegal, South Africa, and, most recently, Botswana."

Read more

'The Trump mandate'

Daniel McCarthy at The American Conservative

Donald Trump has won a "victory even more stunning than his upset defeat of Hillary Clinton eight years ago," says Daniel McCarthy. And "now he has the symbolic yet potent mandate of a popular vote majority." This "majority adds psychological force that makes the Trump revolution cultural as well as political." The "Trump movement isn't some rogue ideological faction or a personality cult only interested in its celebrity leader." Trump speaks "to, and for, America's democratic majority."

Read more

'Railroading Russia through unconventional warfare'

Doug Livermore and Alexander Noyes at Newsweek

The United States should "ramp up support to organize, train, equip, and share intelligence with Ukrainian national resistance warfare efforts. Doing so could help tip the balance," say Doug Livermore and Alexander Noyes. Ukraine has "keenly focused on targeting railway junctions, bridges, tunnels, and other chokepoints in Russia's supply chain." While this "sabotage campaign is impressive, for it to have a real strategic impact the United States and other allies of resistance will have to do more."

Read more