Timothy Snyder: The Road to Unfreedom - The John Adams Institute

Democracy and the rule of law in Western societies are under threat, according to Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, due to Vladimir Putin’s efforts to destabilize neighboring governments and to stir up dissent in countries from France to the United States. The John Adams, in a collaboration with De Balie, invited Timothy Snyder to Amsterdam to discuss his new book 'The Road to Unfreedom', in which he examines how Western societies left themselves open to anti-democratic forces after the Cold War, and how Russia fell into Putinism, which has become a major threat to democracy around the globe.
This video was recorded on November 13, 2018.
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[@bron-sconcess.10]

Prof. Timothy Snyder is exceptional. Proven correct in 2022, but still deeply concerned!

[@fresatx]

I want to VOMIT 🤮 neither you or he want an actual debate. You are an echo chamber that "all" are allowed to participate in. Gross.

[@artem_sukhliak]

watching this in 2024 and it is so relevant up to these days

[@user-fm5hx3rh5q]

Anyone else miss a real newspaper, not on a digital platform?

[@hk1449]

The best summation ( Timothy Snyder thank you for your support of a more equitable civilization and a cleaner more transparent future ..

[@tylermerlin8320]

I'm a fan of this analysis.

[@johnanderson3700]

I like the line from Beyond the Fringe where the guy says: “I learned from my mistakes, and I can repeat them exactly.” Seems that’s what a lot of nations are now saying.

[@JudyFayLondon]

I just hope that the history wouldn't go backwards even further.

[@hk1449]

The best 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@messrsandersonco5985]

Why haven't we learned from the past? Because "there is no history so distant than the recent past". The History Boys by Alan Bennet

[@SwankyNosh]

9:04 Timothy starts

[@mikemcnally8743]

Thanks, I should have read the comments first. I might have actually listened to Mr. Snyder.

[@tomjohn8733]

Wonderful lecture and discussion, always enjoy learning, I agree that ethic and truth are essentials for the way forward, and how learning the truth of things by researching history from multiple views or perspectives can help navigate our future forward, and undoubtedly climate will play a important roll in whatever future we create for a more United world, for only working and cooperating together can we hope for a future and settle disputes in a civilized manner with productive discussions like this, thank you!!

[@Mikaboba100]

I knew what was happening on social media. I'd just had twins and spent a far greater time on social media news feeds than usual. The same comments were coming up on the BBC, Wapo, NYT, our Australian ABC, Al Jazeera etc etc. I said to my husband at the time "This is concerted, someone is organising this". He laughed and said I should start a conspiracy page. But it was SO obvious. There must have been people who could have actually done something who knew about it too....but they didn't.

[@roku5510]

I think we got so excited about what was available with Technology that we forgot to watch out for the dangers. We’ll never be able to turn back the clock, but people are going to need to stop being lazy when it comes to how we make our decisions, vote, what we believe, etc and we’ll have to teach our kids to be discerning as well. The problem is that people ARE lazy. We’re going to have to choose if we want to put forth the effort or give in and get dragged downstream.

[@hk1449]

That has to be all of “us” doing something, if we take Tim’s advice ( congrats on twins)👩🏻‍🍳

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Our corporate media need to communicate these facts and inform the people. How lazy and cynical they are!

[@JudyFayLondon]

Why history always repeats itself, because people don't learn, people don't like learning, and people forget.

[@evanfabri7297]

Critical information in this time of division

[@ThunderAppeal]

For idiots like you.

[@williamyoung9401]

Great question. "Where did the future go?" Thrown out the window, while driving 125 mph. I'm glad he mentioned, "the lies of the past." Because that's why so many, including myself, are so disillusioned. We let profits and lies take over decency and truth. BTW: This video was recorded on November 13, 2018.

[@Synaps4]

I wish this wasnt 80% in the left audio channel. Makes listening on headphones kind of difficult.

[@sharischoll9411]

Truth with accountability. Crimes against humanity should be punished. As it is now, they "step down" and go on to another lucrative job. General Petraus would be one example of countless examples. Corruption within and outside of government is never held accountable but rather they blame the citizens for every problem they created by deception.

[@Rnankn]

What are you talking about? Who is “they”? In democracies we self-govern. If you want to do better, then you should. Ultimately, since citizens are empowered to decide, and to build the world they want, it is citizens who are accountable. Notice how this means you can’t just blame some one else for allegedly deceiving you? Notice how approaching the world with anger leads to the false idea that retribution is a solution? That causing suffering on others is the best way to relieve your own shame and guilt? Iinstead of, you know, helping…

[@Ross8992]

Okay. But what about "yogic flying"? Can you learn it alone or do you need a trained flight attendant?

[@dianel.9703]

This makes so much sense. Mistrust in American government is achieved by Putin.

[@koerttijdens1234]

Mistrust in American governments is not caused by Hillary Clinton making 400 million for her self as Secretary of State or by the hundreds others that make millions for them selves in 'public service'.

[@joeyfotofr]

@@koerttijdens1234 Please, document that lie here........... just the facts .......

[@koerttijdens1234]

@@joeyfotofr Even poor countries like Maroc had to pay her, 6 million for a women event in the Arab spring. My home country the Netherlands seemed to have paid her 10 million, but I forgot what it was for. Style of your Amarican politicians is wellknown abroad. Hillary is not the only one from the US politicians working this way.

[@joeyfotofr]

@@koerttijdens1234 Koert, If you want to talk about money in US politics, I agree with you that it is corrosive and destructive, but it is unfair to single out HRC for participating in the corrupt system successfully, without indicting the system. The US money game is entirely terrible, but Clinton's accounting has been clean and her use of the money has been entirely above board, (that money does not go into her pocket) by the corrupt standards of American politics. She is not a crook - unlike Trump for example. It is a terrible system. I agree with that. Ik deed onderzoek in nederland; heeft straathoekwerk gestudeerd bij Stichting Regenboog in A'dam. Ik woon in Frankrijk en ben al 12 jaar niet in Amerika geweest...jt

[@koerttijdens1234]

@@joeyfotofr Yo, but Hillary was the best from all politicians, she made about 400 million for herself and her friends . No politician came close to what Hillary achieved, she is the best.

[@pacajalbert9018]

vtom für Filme je dobre vidieť ako Nemecko rozdelil svet na nad a pod nemeckom bieli ch tmavých bohatých chudob ch zdravých nezdravých s zdravých na chorých

[@cliveengel5744]

Historians are not Political Activists; Timothy Snyder is in the same mold as Nikita Khrushchev, a Soviet Political Commissar who served during the Great Patriotic War. I have gone through the entire Snyder Series of Yale Lectures on the origins of Ukraine, and 90% of the time, he is talking about the History of Poland and Lithuanian and not of Ukraine and skips significant portions of the History of the Region; he keeps on mentioning Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, the Ukrainian Cossacks instead of the Zaporizhzian Hetmanate. I cannot find a reference to the word Ukraine in any historical texts until 1918-1922. It seems Ukraine never existed as a region or nation until 1922. He barely mentions the Peraeslav Treaty between the Zaporizhzian Cossacks and the Russian Tsar, which had a profound impact on the Cossack Hetmanate, as this, with the siding of the Hetmanate with the Swedish King against The Russian Tsar during the Great Northern War led to the destruction of the Zaporizhzian Cossacks. There is nothing in the treaty of Lubin mentioning Ukraine. So his work is just Revioinist or Woke. We see that Ukraine pays him to rewrite the History in the vision of the current Government of Ukraine. So Political Commissar and not a Historian. Robert Mosci’s Work at the Monk Center at the University of Toronto is the go-to book on Ukraine and Central Europe.

[@vikramnandakumaran2434]

you should invite john mearshimer

[@ubroc]

They should invite John Mearshimer have a converastion with Snyder. Snyders theory has more moving parts and is more connected to the present than to the past.

[@250txc]

This guy is fantasy land at best ...

[@VaucluseVanguard]

For overwhelming majority of people who voted for Brexit, it was never about "us and them". However, it would be true to say without people who thought that way the referendum would have gone the other way.

[@ubroc]

The majority of Brexiteers were seduced into voting to return to a past that never was and never will be. Snyder has that spot on. Now they'll spend the next election cycles complaining that that future is being stolen by the elites.

[@GnosisMan50]

It's unfortunate that a political or social psychologist was not there to give his take on the many problems Dr. Snyder addressed. He sees many things quite well but not deeply. As Dr. Merloo pointed out in 1960 which reflects the present. "Every culture institutionalizes certain forms of behaviour that communicate and encourage certain forms of thinking and acting, thus moulding the character of its citizens. To the degree that the individual is made an object of constant mental manipulation, to the degree that cultural institutions may tend to weaken intellectual and spiritual strength, to the degree that knowledge of the mind is used to tame and condition people instead of educating them, to THAT degree does the culture itself produce men and women who are predisposed to accept an authoritarian way of life. The man who has no mind of his own can easily become the pawn of a would-be dictator" From his book *The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing Meerloo, Joost Abraham Maurits* How is it possible we have not yet learned the lessons from the past? It is as if we are in a state of arrested development, we don't know it, and we think its normal when in actuality it's utter madness.

[@joeyfotofr]

i think you are talking about two different things... what you call "not deeply" is a psychological and not a political or historical analysis, which apparently is your project and clearly not Tim Snyder's.

[@GnosisMan50]

@@joeyfotofr Yes, that’s the problem with scholars. They compartmentalize themselves into one domain of knowledge as they exclude others as if it was a difference that makes no difference. While I appreciate Snyder’s vast knowledge of history and his concern for the future of Democracy, we will not make headway unless we understand the irrational aspects of human behavior that undermine Democracy. We cannot have a healthy Democracy without healthy citizens as they become easily manipulated. I regard this as a crime against the future of humanity and a tragedy that historians are not fully aware of what Merloo is telling us.

[@hk1449]

I think he addresses manipulation by Russian bots and repetitive mantras … To de fang oligarchs & wanna bes : we do need to ask How has the Media become a 5 sec circus of swimsuit models with nothing factual in any context ? Wheres Ted Koppel?

[@OneAdam12Adam]

You should organize an event then. Invite historians and sociologists etc.

[@Godoyt05]

34’:30” dude, this fascism is not building things and redistributing resources because they are not “yet” permitted to have concentration camps… I like him, but this analogy was so fallacious

[@CaliforniaGirl-qk5kq]

What a bullshit? We do not have future because Trump won election in 2016 and most likely will win election in 2020? I do not believe that Joe Biden will get more votes than Trump. Ideas do matter. That does not mean that because Trump won ideas do not matter.

[@hk1449]

Bald and Bankrupt big eye opener ( only Babushkas & grand kids no industry .. Babs waiting for old Sov bring back jobs & industry)

[@sikay3827]

00

[@sikay3827]

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[@pacajalbert9018]

moc dokáže ľudí proti sebe postaviť napríklad na ľavú stranu na pravú stranu ale v tom filme je dobre vidieť že ekonómom vyhovovali oby dva steny Antlatiku

[@AmBotanischenGarten]

MONROE DOCTRINE: What about China's military in Canada? Police departments in the US and Toronto??? Invasion of the US? Does not count? Latin America and China? Does ot count, is of no importance?

[@suhailski]

It was mh17 that opened my eyes to what Russia is real doing.

[@petergeorgiev1828]

This didn't age well, did it? :)

[@ubroc]

Seem like it has.

[@hk1449]

I aged very well .. the war is coming .. Chinese surveillance balloons .. are Chinese sufficiently addicted to materialism (peace) vs patriotic war ..

[@goodman5396]

Trump 2024!

[@hootinouts]

So....this is all about bashing Trump. Is this the best these people gave come up with?

[@k.o.hakala2112]

Oh this is infuriating. "Democracy has to be an ethical choice and comes down to preference". Just no. Please. PLEASE.

[@mdqquinn2513]

Of course, he's right in saying American's thought they built it and the 'system' would last, but it doesn't ...it can be destroyed, changed, subverted, taken...disappeared even overnight! It's happening now...

[@OneAdam12Adam]

You're a Russian Disinformation Troll Farm. Go take a hike!

[@unreliablenarrator6649]

Somehow Snyder missed the American Rightist militia movement. Time to brush-up the field research, Professor.

[@aceofcups3493]

American fasciscm isn't unique.

[@ubroc]

He's not an American history specalist

[@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz]

delusional

[@ubroc]

And then trump staged 1/6 challenging sucession and Russia invaded with both feet.

[@aon10003]

Polotiics of invetability, he taiks about Putin and Trump, but he doesnt talks about the Keocons who has ruled American since 91.

[@cliveengel5744]

Yes Snyder is a political Neocon

[@nayanmipun6784]

I disagree with this man's view on the Right, and the Left is worse

[@CaliforniaGirl-qk5kq]

Same here, I think Snyder is a crook

[@OneAdam12Adam]

That's because you are a Russian Disinformation Troll that works for the FSB. You're not fooling anyone.

[@streambadger6420]

Wow..., lots of words, and mixed truths. Bad information!

[@Rnankn]

Lots of words? He wasn’t trying to provide an objective account of reality. He offered an interpretation, that is historically grounded, consistent with recent events, informed by theory and not only plausible but very convincing. It has the strength of explaining the changes we see in a consistent way.

[@ktex4873]

Is Timothy Snyder CIA?

[@Rnankn]

He’s a historian. KZbin lectures aren’t exactly clandestine. Are you KGB or GRU?

[@markciolko792]

DISTRIBUTION IS A GOOD THING REDISTRIBUTION IS A CRIME

[@arthurcain3904]

Deep.

[@marcosffontes]

TRUE

[@georgemonster2025]

Foolish

[@ripdime1351]

Wrong

[@jimlejajde9776]

What bulls***. This speaker is like cotton candy... a little substance, the rest ersatz!

[@markciolko792]

STOP THE B/S

[@Botwinka13]

The legendary lecture that made me lost all my respect to Snyder. Well done!

[@OneAdam12Adam]

You're a Russian Disinformation Troll Farm. Nice try though, Putin loving coward.

[@k.o.hakala2112]

I shall not demean the internet today by insulting the good professor. I have myself went through similar states of.. psychosis trying to interpret the shifting of the world around us. Suffice it to say that I very much disagree - especially on the history of europe. The politics of eternity or "no future" is the result of the professor's inability to understand the apparent black hole we are spiralling into. It is not as he claims a strategy at all! Chaos does benefit those who are brave and unpredictable, but that is the extent of the story.

[@Mikaboba100]

that's not what he's saying. He's saying the time that appeals to some people is a romantacised time in the past. As in MAGA. When is that time? And who was it great for? They can't imagine a future, they can't create a future because anything good that could ever happen, they think, has already happened.

[@Rnankn]

What black hole? As far as I can see we are creating the very problems that are undermining our ability to function. It’s neurotic, but we are our own problem, and we have to break the mold not by doubling down on suspicion but by working with others to build a future. To do that, takes cooperation and trust.

[@markciolko792]

TRUMP 2020

[@cliveengel5744]

No, let's move on.. without the two old timers, and let's get rid of this Snyder Neocon who would get us all fried.

[@listener523]

It is increasingly frustrating to listen to someone whose work (on history) you enjoy becoming increasingly irrational when confronting realities of which he is ignorant. Snyder talks a lot here about petrochem while demonstrating he knows nothing about it. The US has met the Kyoto target and is on track to meet the Paris targets *even though we signed neither*. Why? The product of fracking which liberal "environmentalists" such as himself abhor. Much of this contribution has come from the Koch brothers he abhors. Who, incidentally, did not support Trump. Better the alternative to Nordstream is more LNG likely produced by the same villians. I look forward to 2224 when perhaps Snyder will return to writing about arenas where he is not incompetent.

[@matthewdoyle4006]

listener523 The Koch brothers are good for using fracking and the fracking activities of the Koch’s are secretly enabling the US and the world to meet Paris Climate treaty climate change targets much more easily than the world might otherwise get its arms around the fossil fuel consumption and pollution threat” Got it. So you were basically beamed here from the past - specifically, from 1963 to tell us with a tone of absolute certainty the un-empirical news that “Thalidomide does NOT cause birth defects!” Thank you for your updated, malevolent injurious falsehoods!

[@hk1449]

To this listener : why didnt your comment include the present war 2/3/23??

[@listener523]

@@matthewdoyle4006 The US, not the world. Germany met Kyoto by offshoring energy intensive phases of production to places like China where they use coal. That and importing Russian gas.

[@listener523]

@@hk1449 Comment is 3 years old but has aged like fine wine. Having continued with the expansion of fracking and LNG terminals (we got 2 more online but the process basically stopped in '20 because Orange Man Bad therefore all programs must be eliminated). Sure would be great if we were exporting huge volumes of LNG right now wouldn't it? Instead Germany is burning lignite which is not just coal it's about the dirtiest coal you can turn into energy.