As of June 14th, 2025, more than 400 scholars from over 30 countries -including 31 Nobel Laureates- have signed an open letter warning against the global resurgence of authoritarianism. The signatories include recipients of the Boltzmann Medal, Médaille d’or du CNRS, Johan Skytte Prize, Brain Prize, Holberg Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, Pulitzer Prize, Lasker Award, Leipzig Book Award, and other of the world’s highest academic honours.

This is not a coalition of a single ideological color. These scholars disagree, often vigorously, on theories of economics, historical and cultural interpretations, or the application of scientific methods and data analysis. What unites all of the signatories is a commitment to core democratic values: the rule of law, national and international; the independence of the judiciary and the press; the autonomy of institutions of culture, science, and higher education; the central role of evidence and knowledge in public life; and the inviolable dignity of every human being, regardless of origin, identity, or beliefs.

The signatories include a particularly long list of historians, philosophers, and political scientists who are among the leading world experts on fascism and democracy -among them Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Timothy Snyder, Jason Stanley, Claudia Koonz, Mia Fuller, Giovanni De Luna, Andrea Mammone, John Keane, Gianfranco Pasquino, Steven Friedman, Lucan Ahmad Way, John S. Dryzek, Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat, Nadia Urbinati, Steven Levitsky, David Bateman, Seyla Benhabib, Achille Mbembe, Jane Mansbridge, and Arend Lijphart.

When they point out fascist-adjacient political groups are on the rise, they are not alarmists. They are scholars who have spent their lives studying how democracies collapse, and what allows authoritarian movements to rise. Their warning is not abstract. They recognise the signs.

They are not predicting the future.
They are describing the present.

This initiative was coordinated by Manifesto di Londra, a collective founded in 2017 in London by a group of Italians to offer a platform for collective, inclusive, and participatory political engagement, beyond party lines and electoral dynamics. It is rooted in a long anti-fascist tradition and animated by a belief in international solidarity, human rights, and the dignity of all people.

As citizens of Italy -a country that has never fully reckoned with its fascist past and has, on and off for the past three decades, served as a laboratory for the global far-right- we felt a strong responsibility to share the lessons learnt from our country’s past. 

The letter was born in response to the staggering events of early 2025 in the United States, where tactics already experimented with different intensity by authoritarian leaders in Italy, Hungary, Poland, Israel, Brazil, India or Turkey, were suddenly deployed all at once. The speed of the escalation -an explicit “flood the zone” strategy- left many stunned and unable to mount a coordinated response. What was worse, even institutions long considered bastions of democratic resilience, like world-renowned universities, prominent law firms, members of the political opposition, and some trade unions, attempted to align themselves with the new power, capitulating. Solidarity fractured, those targeted were left isolated and others clinged to the illusion that silence might spare them.

This is when we thought of the Letter of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, published in multiple Italian newspapers on May 1st 1925. That letter was a direct rebuttal to a Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals which was attempting to claim fascism as the fulfilment of Italy’s historical destiny: a classic fascist trope. By 1925, Mussolini was already in power. Denying fascism its fabricated ancient roots, and doing so on the front pages of Italy’s major newspapers, was risky. That is exactly what Benedetto Croce, Giovanni Amendola, Luigi Einaudi, Eugenio Montale, and many others did. They understood what too many today forget: the temptation to be quiet does not work.

Thus, in April 2025, as authoritarian leaders across continents felt emboldened by the events in the United States, we felt it was time to summon the spirit of Croce. 

The letter has two objectives. The first is to identify political aggression for what it is, while we discuss the correct label to use: far-right, authoritarian, fascist, or fascist-adjacent. These forces share core features that must be recognised and actively opposed. The second is to reaffirm that authoritarian, oligarchic, or fascist-adjacent political movements do not leave space for compromise. They crave power and they do not share it. In such a context, compliance and silence in exchange for survival is not preservation; it is complicity.

This is true at the national level as well as at the international level. Appeasement always fails. If democratic institutions and international bodies are not defended vigorously, every time they are attacked, the erosion of human rights and the normalisation of repression, violence, and ethnic cleansing becomes unavoidable. 

This is a moment of global danger. But also of global responsibility. We draw strength from history, because its lessons are clear. Authoritarianism thrives on fear, isolation, and silence. It falters when faced with clarity, courage, and collective resistance.

Now, as then, we must choose not to be quiet.

Many people have supported the initiative and circulated the letter, making it possible to reach so many and so prestigious signatories. We are grateful for their help.

You can contact us at openletteragainstfascism{at}gmail{dot}com