US ex-ambassadors warn of slide into authoritarianism amid ‘climate of fear’

Four ex-heads of US embassies in nations that swung from democracies to dictatorships say landscape eerily familiar

The US is treading the path followed by democracies that descended into authoritarianism and dictatorship, former ambassadors to countries that underwent autocratic takeovers have warned.

At a panel discussion held to mark Donald Trump's first 100 days in office, four ex-heads of American embassies in countries that had experienced swings away from democracy said the current domestic political landscape felt eerily familiar and was pervaded by a climate of fear" deliberately created to make opponents back off".