The Next Terrorist Attack
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Reichstag fire
1 min read
The article explicitly references 'the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book' regarding exploiting terrorist attacks to consolidate power. The Reichstag fire is the quintessential historical example of this phenomenon - the 1933 arson attack on the German parliament that Hitler used to suspend civil liberties and establish dictatorial power. Understanding this event is essential context for Snyder's argument about 'terror management.'
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Oklahoma City bombing
15 min read
Snyder opens with a personal anecdote about being stopped by troopers on the day of this attack, and uses it as his central comparison point - arguing that a similar attack today would have a 'different outcome.' Understanding the full scope of this 1995 domestic terrorist attack, Timothy McVeigh's motivations, and how the government responded provides crucial historical context for the article's thesis.
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Enabling Act of 1933
1 min read
Snyder warns about 'the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial' following a crisis. The Enabling Act was the specific legal mechanism Hitler used after the Reichstag fire to legally dismantle Weimar democracy. It demonstrates the concrete steps by which emergency powers become permanent authoritarianism - exactly what Snyder fears.
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater. All of the factors described below still apply, and indeed more strongly than before. More good people have departed from the crucial agencies. Many of those who remain are disoriented and angry at what they rightly see to be the total disregard of real threats to national security or indeed the total indifference to US interests that is the hallmark of this White House. More unqualified people are at the top. The government shutdown makes us seem more vulnerable and makes us in fact more vulnerable. It is demoralizing for those who protect us and encouraging for those who wish us ill. We can take it for granted that Trump and his advisors would greet a terrorist attack as an obvious chance to blame their chosen enemies, advance their project of authoritarian regime change, and distract from their own perilous follies. The point of this essay is that the rest of us have to anticipate this chain of events and recognize the sad probability of the attack itself and the absolute predictability of this administration’s response. When the terror attack (God forbid) arrives, it is the Trump administration that should bear responsibility. TS 1 November 2025
Thirty years ago today, I was driving a moving van across the country, from the west coast to the east. The hold was packed well; the ride was wobbly, and I kept the heavy vehicle between the lines, mile after mile. Driving carefully, I was surprised to be stopped by state troopers. When I rolled down the window to face some polite questioning, I didn’t know that Timothy McVeigh had bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 684 more.
In the days that followed, the horror was treated for what it was: an attack by a racist, right-wing anti-government terrorist. I worry now that, thirty years on, a similar attack is very likely, and would have a different outcome. I don't want us to be more frightened than we should be. But I do want us to be ready, so that a moment of predictable shock does not become a lifetime of avoidable subjugation.
As I will try to show, the present government invites a terror attack. Most of ...
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