What if Trump wins? On this episode, Nancy has a conversation with Mark Bergman about something none of us want to think about: what would happen to the rule of law and American democracy in a second Trump term. Last spring, Mark was an observer at a series of large scale simulated exercises (aka war games) stress testing democracy under an authoritarian ruler. Hosted by the Brennan Center, a nonpartisan think tank at NYU Law School, the exercises were conducted as part of theDemocracy Futures Project. Nancy and Mark discuss the outcome of the games, our lack of preparedness for an unfettered Trump, a few positive takeaways and important groups defending democracy that need our support. The number one most important lesson of these exercises? Elect Kamala Harris on November 5th.

Mark S. Bergman is a former international corporate lawyer who, through 7Pillars Global Insights, LLC, comments, briefs and convenes on a range of political, geopolitical and democracy-related topics. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the International Crisis Group, a Director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to reversing the rising tide of polarization, extremism, weaponization of hate and disinformation worldwide), a Director of Bellingcat US and a Director of TIM Cooperative (an NGO focused on information quality). Mark is also a member of the National Finance Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

Pro-Democracy Organizations Recommended by Mark

Protect Democracy

Democracy Forward

Principles First

State Democracy Defenders Action

ACLU

The National Immigration Law Center

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