"Is fascism back?" Robert O. Paxton says No. It is tempting to see Donald Trump, the Tea Party, Le Front National, ISIS et al as fascists, although their "language and behavior" remind of that of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Yet the author advises against applying this "fascism label," as it deviates from our understanding of this primordial movement, led by Hitler and Mussolini.

Paxton highlights the development of fascism since the 1920s in Italy and Germany, revolving around a movement and ideology that favoured dictatorial government, centralised control of economy and society, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism, which was widely manifested in all public events. There was a sense of excessive individualism, national humiliation following the defeat in World War I. Mussolini and Hitler believed "democracy and individualism had sapped them of national unity and will." As a result, their followers had to wear uniforms and were indoctrinated. Their eyesore was communism. While fascists fought socialists and unionists, they supported "the state’s obligation to maintain social welfare (except for internal enemies such as Jews)."

Under these premises, it is hard to see the above mentioned groups fill the shoes of classical fascists. ISIS makes up of religious fanatics, who are not nationalists. The Islamic State lacks statehood, and is governed by relgious totalitarianism. Followers surrender their "wills and personal identities" to a "would-be caliphate" and must be ready to serve as sucide bombers. While Hitler and Mussolini were secular dictators, the self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a religious supremacist. Fascists devoted themselves to the "strengthening and aggrandizement" of their nation-states, in which religion played a little role.

With its "opposition to all forms of public authority and its furious rejection of any obligation to others," the Tea Party can only be seen as an adherent of "right-wing anarchism." Its reactionary members pride themselves on "individual autonomy" and deny "any community obligations," violating the fascist supremacy of communalism.

Le National Front, set up in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen, "had its roots in Vichy France," which collaborated with Nazi Germany. Le Pen has no regard "for the French republican tradition." Under the leadership of his daughter, Marine, the party seeks to "distance itself from its street-fighting, Holocaust-denying past."

In his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has "borrowed a number of fascist themes," such as "xenophobia, racial prejudice, fear of national weakness and decline, aggressiveness in foreign policy, a readiness to suspend the rule of law to deal with supposed emergencies." Moreover his "hectoring tone, mastery of crowds, and the skill with which he uses the latest communications technologies also are reminiscent of Mussolini and Hitler." Yet with his self-indulgence the oligarch lacks credibility, and his wealth does not fall in line with fascist philosophy. He also lacks sensitivity to "the echoes his words and oratorical style evoke."

Paxton says there are unfortunately no appropriate words to describe "these abhorrent people and movements" mentioned above. There are fringe movements, like "Aryan Nations in the United States and Golden Dawn in Greece," that "draw openly upon Nazi symbolism and employ physical violence." But still.......