History doesn't repeat, but it sure does rhyme. You’ve probably heard that one before. But when Timothy Snyder published The Road to Unfreedom back in 2018, people treated it like a fire alarm in a building that wasn't visibly smoking yet. Fast forward to today, and that alarm is deafening. We aren't just reading a book about Russia, Europe, and America anymore; we’re living in the friction between what Snyder calls the "politics of inevitability" and the "politics of eternity." It's a heavy lift, honestly.
Snyder, a Levin Professor of History at Yale, didn't just write a dry political science manual. He tracked how the world moved from a smug belief that democracy was the only possible future to a dark, jagged reality where facts don't matter and leaders play with time like a toy.
If you feel like the news cycle is just one long, confusing fever dream, you’re basically experiencing exactly what Snyder predicted.
The Trap of Inevitability vs. The Nightmare of Eternity
We used to be so sure of ourselves. After 1989, the West fell into this weird trance. We called it the "politics of inevitability." It was the idea that there are no more ideas. Capitalism leads to democracy, democracy leads to peace, and the world just keeps getting better. It’s a flat line moving upward forever.
But that’s a lie. It’s a dangerous one, too.
When you believe the future is inevitable, you stop taking responsibility. You stop checking the oil in the engine because you assume the car drives itself. That’s when the "politics of eternity" crawls in through the window. This is the core of The Road to Unfreedom. Eternity isn't about progress. It’s about cycles of victimhood. It’s about a leader telling a nation that they are forever innocent and forever under attack by mysterious outside forces.
Think about Ivan Ilyin.
Snyder spends a massive chunk of the book talking about this guy. Ilyin was a Russian philosopher who died in the 1950s but became the "godfather" of modern Russian authoritarianism. Vladimir Putin literally had his remains moved back to Russia and quotes him constantly. Ilyin’s vibe was basically: Russia is a pure, virginal organism, and the West is a corrupting, penetrative force of "factology."
Ilyin didn't believe in facts. He believed in "spirit."
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When a government stops trying to solve problems and starts trying to create "moments" of national emotion, you’ve stepped onto the road to unfreedom. It’s a shift from policy to spectacle. Instead of fixing a bridge, a leader tells you a story about how your ancestors were heroes and your neighbors are spies. It’s intoxicating. It’s also a trap.
How Cyberwarfare Turned Reality Into a Choice
It’s not just about tanks.
The book digs deep into the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and the 2016 U.S. election. But Snyder’s point isn't just "Russia did it." It’s that we were ready for it because we’d lost our grip on truth.
In the politics of eternity, truth is whatever feels right. This is where "schizofascism" comes in—Snyder’s term for people who look like fascists and act like fascists, but call their enemies fascists to confuse everyone. It's a total breakdown of language. If "truth" is just a matter of opinion, then the guy with the loudest megaphone wins.
Russia’s "Internet Research Agency" wasn't trying to make Americans love Russia. That would have been impossible. They were trying to make Americans hate each other. They were trying to make truth so elusive that people just gave up and looked for a "strongman" to tell them what to believe.
Why the 2010s Were the Turning Point
- 2011-2012: Putin returns to the presidency in Russia. Massive protests break out. He realizes he can't offer his people a better future, so he offers them a glorious past instead. This is the birth of the eternity politics.
- 2014: The invasion of Ukraine (the first one). Russia uses "maskirovka"—military deception—not just to hide troops, but to hide reality. "There are no Russian soldiers in Crimea," they said, while everyone watched Russian soldiers in Crimea.
- 2016: The tactics tested in Ukraine are exported. The target isn't land; it’s the mind of the Western voter.
Honestly, it’s kinda terrifying how well it worked. When you flood the zone with "fake news"—a term that was actually weaponized to discredit real journalism—people stop believing in the possibility of a shared reality. And without a shared reality, democracy is dead. You can't have a debate if you can't agree that the floor is made of wood.
The Role of Pain and the Death of the Future
Snyder makes this really haunting point about healthcare and opioids in America. You might wonder what that has to do with global geopolitics.
Everything.
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When people are in physical or emotional pain, and they don't see a way out, they become susceptible to the politics of eternity. If your life is getting worse and the "inevitability" crowd is telling you it’s actually getting better, you’re going to look for someone who acknowledges your pain—even if that person is a liar.
The road to unfreedom is paved with ignored suffering.
In Russia, the "eternity" model works because life expectancy is low and social mobility is non-existent. In the U.S. and parts of Europe, as the middle class shrank and the "American Dream" started feeling like a cruel joke, the same vulnerabilities appeared. Authoritarians don't create these problems; they just harvest them. They take that local pain and turn it into nationalistic rage.
It’s a cycle of "us versus them" that never ends because it’s not supposed to. If the conflict ever got resolved, the leader would have to go back to explaining why the healthcare system is broken. So, the conflict must be eternal.
Is This Just About Russia?
Short answer: No.
Snyder is very clear that Russia is just the "pioneer." They were the first to hit the wall of the future and bounce back into the past. But the same patterns are everywhere. You see it in the rise of "illiberal democracy" in Hungary under Viktor Orbán. You see it in the rhetoric of Brexit. You see it in the way political parties in the U.S. have moved from debating tax rates to debating whether the other side is literally trying to destroy the world.
The book argues that the West isn't some special, protected zone. We are just as vulnerable to the lure of the "innocent past" as anyone else.
If you think "it can't happen here," you’re still stuck in the politics of inevitability. That’s the most dangerous place to be. It’s like standing in the middle of a highway because you’re convinced cars aren't allowed to hit you.
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Breaking the Cycle: How to Find the Exit Ramp
So, what do we actually do? Snyder doesn't leave us totally hanging, though his outlook is pretty grim if we stay on the current path.
The antidote to "eternity" is "history."
History isn't a story about how we were always right. History is the messy, often ugly truth of how we got here. It’s about cause and effect. If you understand history, you realize that things don't have to be this way. You realize that choices matter.
We have to stop looking for a "return to normalcy." Normalcy is what got us here. Instead, we have to build a future that is actually visible and tangible for regular people.
Actionable Steps to Resist the Politics of Eternity
- Support Local Journalism: National news is often just entertainment masquerading as information. Local news is where the facts of your actual life live. If you don't know what’s happening at the city council, you’re vulnerable to a story about a "global conspiracy" instead.
- Reject "Eternity" Language: Watch out for politicians who only talk about "the people" as a mystical, pure group and "the elites" as a demonic force. Real politics is about compromise, budgets, and boring stuff. If it feels like a movie, you’re being played.
- Learn the Facts of 20th Century Philosophy: Read up on guys like Ivan Ilyin or even Hannah Arendt. Knowing the "playbook" makes it much harder for someone to use it on you.
- Acknowledge Complexity: If an explanation for a complex world event is simple and makes you feel like a victim or a hero, it’s probably wrong. The truth is usually complicated, boring, and makes everyone look a little bit bad.
- Focus on "The Future" as a Project: Demand policy, not just identity. Ask how a leader is going to improve life in 2030, not how they are going to "restore" the glory of 1950. 1950 is gone. It’s not coming back.
The Road to Unfreedom is a wake-up call that the "end of history" was a myth. We are back in history now. That’s scary, sure, but it also means we have agency again. We aren't just passengers on a train to progress; we’re the ones laying the tracks.
The first step to getting off the road to unfreedom is admitting that we’re on it. The second step is realizing that we’re the ones driving the car. It’s time to start looking at the map again instead of just staring at the rearview mirror.
Practical Insight for 2026:
If you want to dive deeper, don't just read the headlines. Pick up a physical copy of Snyder's work or check out his "Background to the War in Ukraine" lectures. The best way to fight a digital war on truth is with deep, analog knowledge that can't be deleted or "contextualized" by an algorithm. Your attention is the frontline. Use it wisely.