Book Talk with Prof. Özgür Özdamar

We invite you to a book talk featuring Prof. Özgür Özdamar of Bilkent University, who will present the latest findings from his upcoming 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 personalistic, centralized, emotional, and conflict-driven 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 prominent populists of the 21st century are not merely demagogues, but strategic actors who combine moralizing rhetoric with a calculated approach to politics—including with regard to violence. They undermine the postwar liberal-democratic order through both ideology and the performative management of crisis and fear.

Drawing on comparative case studies from various political contexts, “The Populist Prince” proposes an analytical framework for understanding the psychological and structural mechanisms that enable the development of personalist leadership amid the erosion of democracy and global uncertainty.

The book encourages a rethinking of the relevance of the Machiavellian art of governance in an era of spectacle, emotion, and permanent crisis.

The event will takę place on April 4, 1:15 p.m. in Jan Baszkiewicz’s Auditorium.