Intelligence Squared How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran (Part Two)
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Nov 16, 2025 Ece Temelkuran, an award-winning Turkish writer and political commentator exiled for her critiques of President Erdoğan, dives deep into the threats of authoritarianism and populism. She discusses the importance of labeling movements like fascism correctly and explores why many young people are attracted to authoritarian leaders. Temelkuran also emphasizes the need for creative resistance and moral purpose in dark times, highlighting lessons from global experiences to rebuild political faith and inspire action against creeping tyranny.
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Use Words To Mobilise, Carefully
- Urgency matters more than academic labels when naming threats like fascism.
- Using the word can mobilize people but also wounds national identity and invites pushback from the center.
Politics Lost Its Appeal After The 1980s
- Politics was made to look shameful after the 1980s, which pushed young people away.
- That detachment makes younger generations more vulnerable to authoritarian appeals because they lack lived memory of its harms.
Fuse Experience With Stamina
- Combine the Global South's long experience of resistance with Western stamina and anger.
- Use shared lessons to sustain long campaigns instead of expecting quick fixes.
