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Analogies with the past are never properly accurate and analogies especially with the rising fascism can be easily misleading, but in pure chronology I sometimes wonder if we're not in the 1920s or 1930s again... This ideology now has a state, Iran, that is prepared to back and finance terror in the pursuit of destabilising countries whose people wish to live in peace.

Tony Blair#65

PoliticsWarHistoryTerrorism

About this quote

What does it mean?
Blair warns that while historical analogies are imperfect, current events resemble the 1920s and 1930s due to state-backed terror.
In plain terms
He compares today to the interwar period because of rising extremism.
What can you take from it?
History may not repeat but it often rhymes.

Where it applies

  • global security
  • foreign policy
  • historical analysis

Putting it to work

  • assessing threats
  • contextualizing crises
  • warning leaders

Questions to consider

  • When are historical parallels useful?
  • How do we identify rising extremism?

Another view

Comparing modern conflicts to past eras can oversimplify unique factors.

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