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If the current year had already been poised as the worst year in modern history for the post-1945 rules-based world order, recent days has been among the most devastating so far. Israel further ignored obligations for international conventions after deploying a squadron of warplanes toward the Gulf state, bombing representatives from Hamas engaged in peace negotiations in Doha. The last meaningful forum for diplomatic negotiation appears to have gone up in smoke.

At least a group of unmanned aerial vehicles from Russia breached the territorial skies of Poland. For the first time, Nato airpower were deployed against enemy targets inside a Nato country. Whether this violation resulted from an error or deliberate probing by Moscow, as western experts believe, it represented “the closest we have been to open conflict after WWII,” the Polish leader, the head of government, stated.

And then, Charlie Kirk, a firebrand conservative activist and staunch supporter of Trump, was shot dead while addressing university attendees and political followers at a Utah university. In the absence of proof of the shooter’s identity or intentions, the former president quickly accused left-wing extremists,” claiming they of rhetoric “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing across the nation today.”

When questioned about a polarized country might reconcile after Kirk’s assassination, Trump said he was indifferent”. His explanation for that was chilling: Right-wing extremists act aggressively since they don’t want to see crime … Leftist activists are the problem – and they are dangerous and despicable and politically savvy.” In this manner political division transforms into group mentality. This is how the spiral of hatred rush headlong into irreversible conflict.

Actually, more than three-quarters of deaths linked to extremism in the US over the last 10 years were perpetrated by rightwing extremists, while left-wing radicals responsible for just a small number of them. The former president denounced political violence in general the following day – yet omitted mention of a series of recent of attacks targeting liberal figures, including several killings. To him, the issue remains perpetually others, never the loyal supporters who make up his base.

The political and cultural aftershocks of Kirk’s death will no doubt unfold in the coming weeks, but the biggest danger amid deep divisions involves this event transforms into a Reichstag fire in contemporary times. The deliberate burning on 27 February 1933 marked Germany’s pivot from fragile democracy toward autocratic rule. The Nazi leader, freshly installed as chancellor, seized the moment to extinguish the freedoms of the Weimar constitution – free speech, media independence, association, assembly.

“Those opposing us shall be eliminated,” he declared, surveying the damaged structure. Thousands of communists found themselves imprisoned, even elected representatives in parliament. With the left neutralised, the ruling party quickly cemented control.

Within modern America, the tragic killing has captivated the nation, galvanising the Maga movement and loyalists, and he knows it. The white supremacist, a controversial commentator, clamoured for detainment of every Democratic politician, openly claiming the murder as a pivotal turning point.

The reality is, this incident serves as a potential rescue a struggling administration plagued with a sharp drop in job numbers, currency devaluation, and a housing crisis. The former president grieved as though he were family, but the rhetoric implied it might become as much about targeting opponents rather than justice. Right after the assassination, he vowed to pursue all individuals involved directly or indirectly in this tragedy … even groups that fund and support it.” He singled out George Soros, the American-Hungarian philanthropist and political contributor. “He’s a bad guy,” he informed NBC News, he “should be put in jail.”

The reasons for Kirk’s killing are still unknown. The political views belonging to the attacker, a young individual, seem confused similar to another recent perpetrator, the 20 year old who attempted to assassinate Trump in Pennsylvania. Does this represent the radical left attacking the radical right – or is it the strange, chaotic subculture of online niches spilling into the real world? Phrases engraved upon ammunition shells in Utah appear unlike an ideological manifesto and more like a mix of puerile memes and virtual world allusions.

But it is hard not to fear that the repression of “unwilling” academics, legal professionals, journalists, civil servants, armed forces members, and judges in the US will intensify. Thus far, online responses resulted in a wave of terminations and US state department officials have cautioned foreign nationals against endorsing or make light of the murder, directing embassies to implement measures against any foreigners who do.

The former president has often prospered on chaos and disorder. Where real crises do not exist, he invents scenarios – including imagined crime pandemics in major cities, the capital and Chicago. Fake chaos advances his ambitions. Currently, he possesses chaos on a silver platter. No wonder he couldn’t care less if the nation comes together.

This incident offers an ideal justification for tightening his grip, silencing dissent, and centralizing authority – enabling future leaders to assume full state control, regardless of charisma, merit or electoral support. Ultimately, any autocratic system must be established initially; once entrenched, it is simpler to maintain.

Liberal democracy and international frameworks have flaws, but they have delivered peace, progress and prosperity – the antithesis of dictatorial rule. Implying that the US, a founder of modern systems, could soon slide into full-blown autocracy, its leaders thinking like Nazis in 1933, could appear unlikely.

But from another vantage point, it is not far-fetched at all. Totalitarianism remained recent history when many of us of individuals within contemporary Western nations were growing up. From Belgium to Bulgaria, numerous households retain memories of fatalities, devastation, hatred and destitution that authoritarianism leaves behind. To safeguard their near future, they may want to consult historical lessons.