Former Spiegel Editor Klaus Brinkbäumer Publishes 'The American Nightmare' on US Fascism

Klaus Brinkbäumer, former editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel, has released a new book titled 'Der amerikanische Albtraum. Faschismus made in USA' through S. Fischer Verlag in Frankfurt am Main. The 352-page work, priced at Fr. 37.90, argues that the United States is descending into fascism under the Trump administration. Brinkbäumer conducted interviews with scholars including Yascha Mounk, Daniel Ziblatt, and Timothy Snyder, visiting prestigious think tanks and universities primarily on the East and West Coasts. The book's cover features a hand giving a Hitler salute while holding an American flag. Critics note the work focuses heavily on liberal institutions while giving minimal attention to conservative voices, visiting only one Washington D.C. establishment to represent conservative America. The publication continues a trend of German authors publishing dystopian analyses of America, including earlier works like Josef Braml's 'Der amerikanische Patient' (2012) and 'Kollaps der USA' during the Obama era, Elmar Thevessen's 'Zerstörung Amerikas', and Rieke Havertz's 'Goodbye, Amerika'. Stephen Kotkin, a Stanford historian, has argued in Foreign Affairs against prematurely characterizing the US as an authoritarian regime. The review is written by Claudia Franziska Brühwiler, a professor of American political thought at the University of St. Gallen and affiliated researcher at the University of Notre Dame's Nanovic Institute.