Thread by @McFaul

In February 2017, I published this piece @PostOpinions. "Opinion | We can’t let Trump go down Putin’s path." THREAD. 1/ washingtonpost.com/news/democracy…

Have witnessed and written extensively about the gradual erosion of democracy in Russia (& other countries), I thought we Americans could learn some lessons from the Russian "case". (Tweeting some of the key points from the piece, hidden behind a paywall) 2/

"Liberal friends of mine inside the Russian government at the time argued that they had to stay where they were so that they could resist Putin’s autocratic ways." We've heard that one now for 4 years. 3/

"when tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets to protests against his regime in December 2011, Putin labeled them traitors ..." Just like Trump has done for 4 years. 4/

"To counter the urban, educated, wealthy “creative class” protesting against him, Putin also mobilized his electoral base: the rural, poor, uneducated supporters who were the primary losers of Russia’s (partial) integration into the global market economy." Sound familiar? 5/

"Putin and his administration took deliberate actions to polarize Russian society, pitting citizens from big cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg against “real” Russians in the rural heartland." Sound like Trump? Yep. 6/

"In retrospect, Russians who lament the consolidation of Putin’s autocracy all say they reacted too slowly at the beginning. They didn’t believe things could get so bad. They didn’t believe Putin would ever go as far as he did." Sound familiar? 7/

"Back in 2000, Putin had few allies within the state, and lukewarm support in society... Had these forces pushed back immediately against creeping authoritarianism, Russia’s political trajectory might have been different." 8/

"certain lessons from the Russian experience remain relevant [to the U.S.] First, small steps toward autocracy at the beginning of a new presidency can produce momentum toward bigger autocratic changes later." 9/

"Second, we must beware of the dangers of acquiescence or indifference. We should not rely on the hope that initial dangerous acts will fizzle out, or that working from within will help to protect democracy." 10/

"Let us not end up in the position of those Russian democrats, both inside and outside government, who later wished that they had stood up to Putin’s autocratic ways earlier..." (I wrote this piece 4 years ago.)11/

"Thankfully, this historic analogy is not precise. American democratic institutions — including Congress, the courts, the opposition party, state-level governments, the media and civil society — are much more robust today than similar Russian institutions were in 2000." 12/

But our fight against autocracy is still in the early stages, like the early 1990s in Russia or the early 1920s in Weimar Germany. Defeating cancerous autocratic forces now will be much easier then allowing them, in the name of unity or winning elections, to fester & grow. 13/

All those who believe in democracy, conservatives and liberals alike, must unify against these Trump-inspired autocratic forces now, while they are still weak. The history of Russia (and other countries) shows clearly the dangers of acquiescence and indifference. END THREAD. 14/