Chapter 20: Political Crisis

88       “With that, here is Viktor Orbán” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 2:58–3:01.

88       “His accent is pretty thick . . .” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:01–3:03.

88       “Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:06–3:08.

88       “So, in 2015, hundreds of thousands of migrants . . .” “Why?” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:08–3:21.

88       “That was the only reasonable behavior” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:26–3:29.

88       “You have to defend your people . . .” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:50–3:54.

88       “And you think you have a right to do that” . . . “Of course”  “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,” www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 3:54–3:57.

88       set himself on fire . . . confiscated his produce  Abubakr Al-Shamahi, “How Economic Hardship Fuelled the Arab Spring 10 Years Ago,” Al Jazeera, December 17, 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/17/bread-and-gas-economic-boost-needed-after-arab-spring.

88       an activist blaze  Al-Shamahi, “How Economic Hardship Fuelled the Arab Spring 10 Years Ago,” www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/17/bread-and-gas-economic-boost-needed-after-arab-spring.

88       protesters had ousted Ben Ali  Al-Shamahi, “How Economic Hardship Fuelled the Arab Spring 10 Years Ago,” www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/17/bread-and-gas-economic-boost-needed-after-arab-spring.

88–89 ousted President Hosni Mubarak  Mona Eltahawy, “Hosni Mubarak: The Egyptian Autocrat Whose Regime Endures,” Politico, December 26, 2020, www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/26/hosni-mubarak-egyptian-dictator-regime-448171.

89       since 1981  Eltahawy, “Hosni Mubarak: The Egyptian Autocrat Whose Regime Endures,” www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/26/hosni-mubarak-egyptian-dictator-regime-448171.

89       assassinated Muammar Gaddafi  Neil MacFarquhar, “Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, 1942-2011: An Erratic Leader, Brutal and Defiant to the End,” New York Times, October 20, 20211, www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafi-killed-as-hometown-falls-to-libyan-rebels.html.

89       all throughout North Africa and the Middle East  Elfatih A. Abdel Salam, “The Arab Spring: Its Origins, Evolution and Consequences...Four Years On,” Intellectual Discourse 23, no. 1 (2015), journals.iium.edu.my/intdiscourse/index.php/id/article/view/660/520, 122, 123.

89       against dictatorships, monarchies . . .  Salam, “The Arab Spring: Its Origins, Evolution and Consequences...Four Years On,” journals.iium.edu.my/intdiscourse/index.php/id/article/view/660/520, 122–123.

89       highly volatile and politically unstable power vacuums  Salam, “The Arab Spring: Its Origins, Evolution and Consequences...Four Years On,” journals.iium.edu.my/intdiscourse/index.php/id/article/view/660/520, 127–128.

89       The Islamic State, or ISIS, rose Salam, “The Spring: Its Origins, Evolution and Consequences...Four Years On,” journals.iium.edu.my/intdiscourse/index.php/id/article/view/660/520, 138.

89       morphed into a bloody series of conflicts  Salam, “The Arab Spring: Its Origins, Evolution and Consequences...Four Years On,”journals.iium.edu.my/intdiscourse/index.php/id/article/view/660/520, 130, 138.

89       Boko Haram, a militant Muslim group  Chinedu Asadu, “UN: Nigerians Hit by Extremist Violence Need $1.3 billion,” Associated Press (AP) News, February 16, 2023, apnews.com/article/politics-united-nations-africa-nigeria-18f914990396208b8bcb0d226bfe027f.

89       fought al-Shabaab rebels, allies of al-Qaeda Center for Preventative Action (CPA), “Conflict With Al-Shabaab in Somalia,” Global Conflict Tracker, Council on Foreign Relations, October 15, 2024, www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/al-shabab-somalia.

89       in the Gambia torturing and killing political dissenters  Human Rights Watch, “Gambia: Two Decades of Fear and Repression,” news release, September 17, 2015, www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/17/gambia-two-decades-fear-and-repression.

89       in Eritrea binding people into forced labor “UN Inquiry Reports Gross Human Rights Violations in Eritrea,” United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, press release, June 8, 2015, www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2015/06/un-inquiry-reports-gross-human-rights-violations-eritrea.

89       Most migrants remained close to their home regions At the end of 2015, “developing regions hosted 86 per cent of the world’s refugees, or 13.9 million people. The top five host countries were Turkey (2.5 million), Pakistan (1.6 million), Lebanon (1.1 million), Iran (979,400), Ethiopia (736,100), and Jordan (664,100). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2015, www.unhcr.org/us/media/unhcr-global-trends-2015, 2, 3. By the end of 2016, developing regions “hosted 84 per cent of the world’s refugees. . .with about 14.5 million people.” The leading host nations were Turkey (2.9 million), Pakistan (1.4 million), Lebanon (1 million), Iran (979,400), Uganda (940,800), and Ethiopia (791,600). UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2016, www.unhcr.org/media/global-trends-forced-displacement-2016, 2, 3.

89       three-fourths of the migrants . . . were men Phillip Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” Pew Research Center, August 2, 2016, www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 12.

89       half of those migrants were escaping civil wars Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,”www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 5.

89       mostly arrived on boats, crossing the Mediterranean . . .  Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 6; and Judith Sunderland, “The Mediterranean Migration Crisis: Why People Flee, What the EU Should Do,” Human Rights Watch, June 19, 2015, www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/19/mediterranean-migration-crisis/why-people-flee-what-eu-should-do.

89       migrants died en route  Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 6; and Adrian Edwards in Geneva and Medea Savary, “Mediterranean Death Toll Soars,” UNHCR, May 31, 2016, www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/5/574db9d94/mediterranean-death-toll-soars-first-5-months-2016.html.

89       1.3 million migrants requested asylum in the European Union, along with  Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 4.

89–90 thirty countries were home to about 520 million people  “EU Population Up to 508.2 Million at 1 January 2015,” Eurostat, news release, July 10, 2015, ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6903510/3-10072015-AP-EN.pdf/d2bfb01f-6ac5-4775-8a7e-7b104c1146d0, 1.

90       the largest number of people requesting asylum . . . in 1985  Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 6; and Magnus Henrekson et al., “The Refugee Crisis and the Reinvigoration of the Nation-State: Does the European Union Have a Common Asylum Policy?” in The European Union and the Return of the Nation State, eds. Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt et al. (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), 97. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/1138671002.

90       “this current wave is small”  Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, footnote 1 on 6.

90       roughly 6.9 million Ukrainian refugees “Ukraine Emergency,” USA for UNHCR, accessed October 22, 2025, www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/ukraine/.

91        final months of 2015 pushing this conspiracy  Adam Nossiter, “For Marine Le Pen, Migration Is a Ready-Made Issue,” New York Times, October 5, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/europe/for-marine-le-pen-migration-is-a-ready-made-issue.html.

91        “1 MILLION UNEMPLOYED IS 1 MILLION IMMIGRANTS TOO MANY!” “The French First,” poster, 1978, Derrière le Front (Behind the Front), Franceinfo, blog.franceinfo.fr/derriere-le-front/2015/10/26/les-francais-dabord.html, via Google Translate.

91        tax-payer funded nationwide billboard campaign  Shane Savitsky, “Border Fences and Refugee Bans: Hungary Did It—Fast,” Axios, February 1, 2017, www.axios.com/2017/12/15/border-fences-and-refugee-bans-hungary-did-it-fast-1513300201.

91        “IF YOU COME TO HUNGARY . . .” A photo of the billboard can be seen in “They Didn’t Take Away the Jobs of Hungarians.” 24.hu, October 9, 2015, 24.hu/kozelet/2015/10/09/nem-vettek-el-a-magyarok-munkajat/, via Google Translate. A translation of the billboard is quoted in Savitsky, “Border Fences and Refugee Bans: Hungary Did It—Fast,” www.axios.com/2017/12/15/border-fences-and-refugee-bans-hungary-did-it-fast-1513300201.

91        thirteen-foot fence covered in razor wire  Savitsky, “Border Fences and Refugee Bans: Hungary Did It—Fast,” www.axios.com/2017/12/15/border-fences-and-refugee-bans-hungary-did-it-fast-1513300201.

91        where most migrants were entering the country  Rick Lyman, “Route of Migrants Into Europe Shifts Toward Balkans,” New York Times, July 18, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/world/europe/route-of-migrants-into-europe-shifts-toward-balkans.html.

91        the day after Trump announced his campaign  Suzanne Gamboa, “Donald Trump Announces Presidential Bid By Trashing Mexico, Mexicans,” NBC News, June 16, 2015, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/donald-trump-announces-presidential-bid-trashing-mexico-mexicans-n376521.

91        “a great wall”  C-SPAN, “Donald Trump Presidential Campaign Announcement Full Speech (C-SPAN),” YouTube, June 16, 2015, youtu.be/apjNfkysjbM?si=yMGv6gqLS9daCPds, 40:21–40:36.

91        finished the border fence . . . rejected asylum applications  Savitsky, “Fences and Refugee Bans: Hungary Did It—Fast,” www.axios.com/2017/12/15/border-fences-and-refugee-bans-hungary-did-it-fast-1513300201.

91        Sweden accepted the highest number of migrants  Martin Gelin, “Sweden Used to Pride Itself on Moderation—Until US-Style Culture Wars Poisoned Our Politics,” The Guardian, October 3, 2023, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/03/sweden-us-culture-wars-politics-donald-trump.

91–92  orchestrated distance from its fascist and Nazi roots  Jens Rydgren, From Tax Populism to Ethnic Nationalism: Radical Right-Wing Populism in Sweden (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006) 108. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/945918408.

92       condemned Nazism in 1999  Rydgren, From Tax Populism to Ethnic Nationalism, 108. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/945918408.

92       “one of the most significant polling shifts in Swedish history”  Andreas Johansson Heinö quoted in Gelin, “Sweden Used to Pride Itself on Moderation—Until US-Style Culture Wars Poisoned Our Politics,” www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/03/sweden-us-culture-wars-politics-donald-trump.

92       a mere 9 percent of Swedes saw migration . . .  Kerrie Holloway et al., “Country Study: Public Narratives and Attitudes Toward Refugees and Other Migrants,” ODI, 2021, cdn.odi.org/media/documents/ODI-Public_narratives_Sweden_country_study-revMay23.pdf, 6.

92       In 2015, 53 percent of Swedes did Holloway et al., “Country Study: Public Narratives and Attitudes Toward Refugees and Other Migrants” cdn.odi.org/media/documents/ODI-Public_narratives_Sweden_country_study-revMay23.pdf, 6.

92       winning 5.7 percent of the vote  International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Election Guide, “Swedish Parliament 2010 General,” September 19, 2010, last updated June 21, 2024, accessed December 15, 2023, www.electionguide.org/elections/id/1567/.

92       more than tripled this vote total, to 17.53 percent IFES Election Guide, “Swedish Parliament 2018 General,” September 9, 2018, last updated June 21, 2024, accessed December 15, 2023, www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3066/.

92       received 442,000 applications for asylum Connor, “Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015,” www.pewresearch.org/global/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Pew-Research-Center-Europe-Asylum-Report-FINAL-August-2-2016.pdf, 5.

92       “Those arriving have been raised in another religion . . .” Viktor Orbán quoted in Robert Mackey, “Hungarian Leader Rebuked for Saying Muslim Migrants Must Be Blocked ‘to Keep Europe Christian,’” New York Times, September 3, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/europe/hungarian-leader-rebuked-for-saying-muslim-migrants-must-be-blocked-to-keep-europe-christian.html.

92       “Is it not worrying in itself that European Christianity . . .”  Orbán quoted in Mackey, “Hungarian Leader Rebuked for Saying Muslim Migrants Must Be Blocked ‘to Keep Europe Christian,’” www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/europe/hungarian-leader-rebuked-for-saying-muslim-migrants-must-be-blocked-to-keep-europe-christian.html.

92       migrate in reaction to a political or economic crisis  “Since the earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Some people move in search of work or economic opportunity, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution or large-scale human rights violations. Still others move in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters or other environmental factors.” United Nations, “International Migration,” accessed August 25, 2025, www.un.org/en/global-issues/migration. “Over the next 30 years, 143 million people are likely to be uprooted by rising seas, drought, searing temperatures and other climate catastrophes, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” Julie Watson, Associated Press, “Climate Change Is Already Fueling Global Migration. The world Isn’t Ready to Meet People’s Changing Needs, Experts Say,” PBS News, July 28, 2022, www.pbs.org/newshour/world/climate-change-is-already-fueling-global-migration-the-world-isnt-ready-to-meet-peoples-needs-experts-say.

92       “call the invaders invaders—they call them refugees, or migrants”  Camus’s emphasis. Camus, You Will Not Replace Us!, 63. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/1091051149.