Here’s a conspiracy theory for you: Mainstream political parties of the center-right and center-left, across a wide range of self-described democratic nations, were in big trouble as we neared the midpoint of the 2020s. They were beset on all sides by anti-immigrant sentiment, worsening economic inequality and widespread mistrust in government. The proto-fascist (and actually fascist) far right was on the rise; to a lesser extent, so was the socialist left.
But they had a plan! Install a vicious, undisciplined sociopath as would-be dictator of the United States, unleashing a worldwide reaction of anti-American loathing. (Which, if we’re being honest, was not far under the surface anyway.) In effect, the world’s most powerful nation would abruptly subtract itself from the international equation, compelling an entirely new set of global alliances — and the struggling neoliberal centrist parties would look far more appetizing, as the proverbial adults in the room.
