{"id":11453,"date":"2024-12-22T20:47:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T20:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=11453"},"modified":"2024-12-22T20:47:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T20:47:13","slug":"11453","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/22\/11453\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='e-content'><span hidden class=\"__iawmlf-post-loop-links\" data-iawmlf-links=\"[{&quot;id&quot;:1210,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/ecetemelkuran.net\\\/how-to-lose-a-country&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20250603083701\\\/https:\\\/\\\/ecetemelkuran.net\\\/how-to-lose-a-country\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-03 22:29:42&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-08 14:44:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-12 00:46:04&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-15 07:38:23&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20 05:39:51&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-26 23:33:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-09 05:09:58&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 09:56:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-21 19:53:30&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 15:52:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02 02:25:57&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-13 17:24:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-29 18:21:07&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-08 10:56:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-18 09:45:05&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-22 12:38:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-28 07:30:43&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-07 16:24:01&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 19:49:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 19:49:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]\"><\/span>\n<p>\ud83d\udcda Finished reading <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ecetemelkuran.net\/how-to-lose-a-country\/\" title=\"Ece Temelkuran: How To Lose A Country\">How To Lose A Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship<\/a><\/em> by Ece Temelkuran. I found this important, readable, but hard-going. The book uses the experience of Turkey over the past few decades as a warning of what can happen to democracies. I found it difficult to remember where I was in the 7 steps, which may be more of a reflection of me reading it before bedtime each night than of the book itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>The point that struck the biggest chord with me was how humans need a cause that they can get behind. The left isn\u2019t offering this, so people gravitate to whatever narrative there is, typically one touted by right-wing populists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1400\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1.png\" class=\"wp-image-11452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1.png 1400w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-1-700x700.png 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/22\/11453\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to \"><div class='e-content p-summary'>\ud83d\udcda Finished reading How To Lose A Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran. I found this important, readable, but hard-going. The book uses the experience of Turkey over the past few decades as a warning of what can happen to democracies. I found it difficult to remember where I was [&hellip;]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"status","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federate","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-status","6":"category-snippets","7":"post_format-post-format-status","8":"h-entry","10":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11045,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/09\/how-civil-wars-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":0},"title":"\ud83d\udcda How Civil Wars Start","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"9 August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Finished reading How Civil Wars Start by Barbara F. Walter. I picked this up from Heather Burns\u2019 2023 \u2018get ready for the coming US election\u2019 reading list. The title is perfect, as the book is literally a narrative that explains the research into the conditions that can typically lead to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From the Center for Systemic Peace\u2019s Polity Project","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":941,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2016\/02\/25\/democracy-theatre\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":1},"title":"Democracy theatre","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"25 February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not sure where to begin. On Monday night I attended a meeting of Berkhamsted Town Council as a member of the public. They were due to discuss the planning application for an eight-storey car park in the centre of our town and I wanted to be there, to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Berkhamsted&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Berkhamsted","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/berkhamsted\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lower-Kings-Road-150x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2005\/01\/23\/the-red-shoes\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":2},"title":"The Red Shoes","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"23 January 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we stayed in and watched The Red Shoes, an absolutely delightful film. It tells the story of the Lermontov ballet; how a young talented composer (Julian Craster, played by Marius Goring) and a gifted dancer (Victoria Page, played by Moira Shearer) come to join the company and produce\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Film&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"red_shoes.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/red_shoes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11433,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/10\/weeknotes-302-tuxedo-junction\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":3},"title":"Weeknotes #302 \u2014 Tuxedo junction","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"10 December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On Tuesday my company had a party to celebrate both our 10th anniversary and the upcoming retirement of our CEO. Drinks and canap\u00e9s were followed by a formal dinner and speeches. An incredible live band kicked in as desserts were served and the evening was rounded out with a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A beautifully-laid round dinner table for 10 people at Claridge's in London. The table has a posh labelled name of 'Harare'.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10745,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/03\/04\/weeknotes-262-heath-robinson\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":4},"title":"Weeknotes #262 \u2014 Heath Robinson","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"4 March 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another very busy week, primarily focused on preparing for a steering committee. This mainly involved trying to gather together as many estimates and quotes as I could for work that might be in scope for one of the projects. The meeting was exactly what we needed in that we\u2019ve now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Random graffiti spotted on a wall on my walk to the office","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/99C11E25-2E8D-4A11-8ADB-3F2083BCDD6A-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11414,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/11\/26\/weeknotes-300-round-numbers\/","url_meta":{"origin":11453,"position":5},"title":"Weeknotes #300 \u2014 Round numbers","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"26 November 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunny and chilly at Tottenham Court Road A four-day working week. My brothers and I had all booked Friday off. We\u2019d planned a surprise day in London for my mum to belatedly celebrate her 70th birthday. Last year we took my dad away to Berlin to celebrate his 70th, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A view from just outside Tottenham Court Road station in London, on a sunny but cold day. The Dominion Theatre is in the picture with a big red shoe outside to advertise the production of 'The Devil Wears Prada'.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DraggedImage-12-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11454,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11453\/revisions\/11454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}