The Theory Brief

The Theory Brief

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Shock and Subordination: The First 100 Days of Trump 2.0
Trump's desire for power seems limitless. But people are beginning to wake up to the real-world consequences of his policies.
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Victor Shammas
Trump’s Nordic Encounter
The Global South knows what US imperialism means. The Nordic countries are beginning to catch on.
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Victor Shammas
1
Between MAGA and a Hard Place
Two books—one on Steve Bannon and the global far right, the other on life at a Chinese university—reveal a world increasingly riven by competing…
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Victor Shammas
The Great American Decoupling
Under Trump 2.0, the U.S. is decoupling from the world—and the world from it. Both are worse off for it.
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Victor Shammas
What’s the Matter with Kentucky?
Are Trumpists found—or made? A ground-level report from eastern Kentucky only tells half the story.
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Victor Shammas

March 2025

The AI Hype Bubble
And its cognitive, social, and financial risks.
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Victor Shammas
2
The Courts and the Street
Judges can serve as critical bulwarks against an authoritarian turn. But in the end, only grassroots organizing and a mass popular movement can truly…
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Victor Shammas
Technofeudalism, Telecommunications, and the Infrastructure of Control
Taking a closer look at two books -- Yanis Varoufakis's 'Technofeudalism' and Eva Dou's 'House of Huawei' -- reveals the deep entanglement of technology…
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Victor Shammas
3

February 2025

The Specter of Inflation
The far right has weaponized inflation. We should critically examine how nationalist movements activate and manipulate ideas about economic hardship for…
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Victor Shammas
Fluid Fascism
Combining the concept of diagonalism with Zygmunt Bauman's "liquid modernity" allows us to better grasp Trump's flexible ideology.
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Victor Shammas
3
The Blitzkrieg President
Trump's first weeks back in power have aimed to disorient and demoralize—and so, to begin the work of dismantling liberal democracy.
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Victor Shammas
The New Fascist International
A growing club of far-right, hardline nationalist, and fascist political leaders is working hard to transform the world. They must be opposed.
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Victor Shammas
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