We invite you to a meeting with Prof. Özgür Özdamar from Bilkent University, who will present advanced results of his work on his forthcoming book “The Populist Prince”. The event will be held in English.
In this project, Prof. Özdamar presents a theoretically grounded analysis of the return of personalist, centralized, emotional, and confrontational leadership in contemporary politics. Drawing on Machiavelli and his “The Prince”, he develops the concept of “neo-Machiavellian populism” to explain how leaders consolidate power by manipulating fear, identity, and institutional weaknesses.
Combining classical political philosophy with psychology, political science, foreign policy analysis, and leadership studies, the author argues that the most important populists of the 21st century are not merely demagogues, but strategic actors who combine moralizing rhetoric with a calculated approach to politics—including in relation to violence. They undermine the post-war liberal-democratic order both through ideology and performative crisis and fear management.
Based on comparative case studies from different political contexts, *The Populist Prince* proposes an analytical framework for understanding the psychological and structural mechanisms enabling the development of personalist leadership under conditions of democratic erosion and global uncertainty. The book encourages a reconsideration of the relevance of Machiavellian statecraft in an era of spectacle, emotion, and permanent crisis.