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Barbara F. Walter is not just any commentator, she’s a leading expert on civil war and democracy:

• Rohr Professor of International Affairs, UC–San Diego

• Served on CIA’s Political Instability Task Force, predicting conflict

• Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

• Author of New York Times bestseller How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them (2022)
  https://www.barbarafwalter.com/how-civil-wars-start

• TED2023 speaker on the fragility of U.S. democracy
  “Is the US headed towards another civil war?” (TED Talk, 13 min) https://www.ted.com/talks/barbara_f_walter_is_the_us_headed_towards_another_civil_war

Why she’s ringing the alarm bells:

##The signs are undeniable:

• Political violence is rising
• Extremism is mainstreaming
• Trust in elections and institutions is eroding
• Powerful voices are fueling conspiracy theories and hate
• Walter’s research shows democracies most at risk are “anocracies”—nations caught between democracy and autocracy.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anocracy
• The U.S. slid from a stable democracy toward partial democracy/anocracy during 2020–21.
  TED Talk summary & analysis
• Civil conflict risks spike when political parties form around identity (race, religion) instead of ideology.
  Analysis from TED & PBS
• She's warned that overt actions—like Trump’s assault on norms or calls for war—strengthen factional divides and escalate to violence.

What a 21st-century U.S. civil war looks like (not 1860s-style):

• Decentralized violence—bombings, assassinations, militia clashes
• Social media fueling hate and conspiracy
• Legal breakdowns—competing governing authorities, refusal to cooperate

This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s a warning.

Walter reminds us: civil war doesn’t arrive with tanks and uniforms.
It slips in through eroding norms, growing grievances, social polarization, and unchecked factional identity politics.

##If you think “it can’t happen here,” Barbara F. Walter says: that’s exactly what every crumbling democracy thought—until it was too late.

“Democracy doesn’t die in darkness. It dies in silence.”

Speak up. Organize. Vote. Resist authoritarianism — before it's too late.

Originally Posted By u/Lo_Stallone At 2025-07-16 01:26:42 PM | Source