KAY HANNAHAN

30 years after the fall of communism, as Budapest's Soviet-era architecture is vibrantly refurbished, so is the playbook for authoritarian rule. Relentless propaganda of Viktor Orbán’s 2019 White House visit blares through the televisions of Budapest, where the Orbán regime holds near-total media control. A facade of democracy still exists in Hungary, but underneath it lies the familiar architecture of authoritarian rule. With the 2024 election on the horizon, the United States faces its own moment of reckoning, prompting many to wonder if it will follow Hungary's footsteps, where the facade of democracy thinly veils the reality of authoritarian control.