Intelligence Squared

How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran (Part One)

November 14, 2025

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  • Ece Temelkuran argues that what the world has lost is not hope, but faith in ourselves, each other, and politics, suggesting that people can do better than merely hoping for change. 
  • The normalization of authoritarian tendencies, which Temelkuran terms fascism, occurs when people emotionally side with a powerful movement before being explicitly forced, often by accepting leaders as 'our bad guy' despite their flaws. 
  • The current democratic crisis stems from a systemic failure rooted in neoliberalism's contradiction of democratic equality by prioritizing winner-take-all capitalism, necessitating a moral transformation rather than just political fixes. 

Segments

Sponsor Read: Planet Visionaries
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The Planet Visionaries podcast, hosted by Alex Honold, features conversations with builders of a better future, including conservationist Chris Tompkins who gifted land to create a Chilean national park.
  • Summary: Planet Visionaries is sponsored by Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative and focuses on practical, inspiring solutions to global challenges. An upcoming episode features Chris Tompkins, whose foundation gifted land the size of Denmark to Chile for a new national park in 2017. The show highlights the human side of climate action, moving beyond just policy and numbers.
Sponsor Read: Indeed
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(00:01:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Indeed sponsored jobs yield 45% more applications than non-sponsored jobs, and the platform offers a $75 credit for Intelligence Squared listeners.
  • Summary: Indeed is promoted as a fast hiring solution, noting that 23 hires were made worldwide during the time of the ad read. Sponsored jobs help posts jump to the top of search results for relevant candidates. Listeners can receive a $75 sponsored job credit by visiting indeed.com/intelligence squared.
Introduction and Guest Context
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(00:03:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Ece Temelkuran, author of ‘How to Lose a Country,’ was exiled from Turkey for criticizing President Erdogan and discusses the global sleepwalking into authoritarianism.
  • Summary: The episode features Ece Temelkuran, who was joined by journalist Coco Khan to discuss the global rise of fascism. Temelkuran’s work warns that populism creeps into government rather than marching in fully formed. The discussion aims to explore early warning signs of authoritarianism and lessons of resistance.
The Weight of Exile
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(00:07:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Temelkuran dislikes the term ’exile’ as it grants an aristocratic flair compared to other refugees, noting that many people already feel like strangers in their own countries.
  • Summary: Temelkuran self-exiled in 2016 from Turkey after receiving too many threats, switching her writing language to English for her first English book, ‘How to Lose a Country.’ She points out the irony that those who offer refuge to exiles are now facing similar political slides in their own nations. Feeling like a stranger in one’s own country can occur without physically leaving, simply by observing the news.
Identifying Early Fascist Signs
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(00:14:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Women often act as ‘canaries in the mine’ regarding fascism, sensing air changes sooner than men because women are historically the first to be targeted by new regimes.
  • Summary: Temelkuran’s chills about authoritarianism began in 2002 upon observing the movement supporting Recep Tayyip ErdoฤŸan, noting the early tactic of claiming to be ‘clean’ and above politics to ‘clean the country.’ This movement consolidates power by manufacturing victimhood, which binds the crowd to the leader who embodies the movement.
Fascism Label Normalization
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(00:17:07)
  • Key Takeaway: People normalize authoritarian leaders by saying ‘he’s okay’ despite acknowledging corruption, because siding with the perceived powerful entity feels emotionally advantageous.
  • Summary: Editors initially resisted Temelkuran’s subtitle suggestion of ‘Seven Steps from Democracy to Fascism,’ preferring milder terms like ‘authoritarianism,’ until the reality became undeniable across Europe. Temelkuran asserts that refusing to call it fascism is an ideological stance because naming it correctly demands action, whereas ‘right-wing populism’ suggests the problem is temporary.
Systemic Failure Over Leaders
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(00:22:18)
  • Key Takeaway: The current political turmoil is a systemic failure caused by neoliberalism eroding democracy’s core contract of equality, meaning simply waiting for leaders like Trump to die will only result in a ‘better Trump’ next time.
  • Summary: The helplessness felt by progressives stems from knowing there is no political solution within the current system setup, which lacks social justice at its center. This system, established since the 1970s with Reagan and Thatcher, falsely claimed there was ’no alternative’ to cutthroat capitalism mixed with benign democracy. People vote for ‘bad guys’ because the system fails to deliver on their livelihood, making the leader their chosen agent of disruption.
Moving Beyond Democracy Talk
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(00:31:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Instead of defending the current iteration of democracy, which neoliberalism has eaten away, the focus should shift to moral transformation centered on human dignity, friendship, and radical love in politics.
  • Summary: The contradiction between democracy’s promise of equality and neoliberalism’s winner-take-all ethos has hollowed out the political process. Since people cannot change their destiny through voting, they lose faith in the system, making them susceptible to populist figures. Crises crystallize both evil and good, forcing people to realize their survival depends on solidarity and humility, which allows for the introduction of love into the political sphere.