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Defensive Victimhood and the Legitimation of Revisionism by D. Conterno (2026)

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  Defensive Victimhood and the Legitimation of Revisionism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Adolf Hitler’s Wilhelmshaven Speech (1 April 1939) and Its Contemporary Resonances by D. Conterno (2026) Abstract This short paper applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) to an English-language translation of Adolf Hitler’s public speech delivered at Wilhelmshaven on 1 April 1939. ( https://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/blbk20.asp ) The analysis identifies recurring legitimation strategies: a)       National “regeneration” narratives. b)      Victimhood and betrayal framing. c)       Moral-legal inversion (“vital right” over imposed law). d)      Whataboutism via imperial comparisons (notably Palestine). e)       Securitised pre-emption and historical entitlement (Lebensraum). f)         Normalisation of rearmament and bloc formation. ...

A Conceptual Government Model by D. Conterno (2026)

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 Tribal–Cluster–Network Governance with Elder Councils and AI Coordination: A Conceptual Government Model, Research Propositions, and an OECD-Mapped Pilot Evaluation Framework by D. Conterno     Abstract Across many jurisdictions, trust deficits, polarisation, corruption exposure, and slow conflict resolution indicate misfits between hierarchical, winner-takes-all governance and the networked complexity of modern societies (UNDP, 2023/2024). This journal-style manuscript formalises a “tribes–clusters–networks” proposal as a polycentric, deliberative governance architecture in which: I. “Tribes” are purpose-bound communities.             II. “Clusters” connect tribes via bridging representatives (“elders”).            III. An AI coordination layer provides decision-support, monitoring, and facilitation without sovereign power. The manuscript contribut...

FROM REPUBLIC TO “EMPIRE”: A STAR WARS’ PALPATINE-INSPIRED WORST-CASE MODEL FOR THE UNITED STATES IN 2026–2028 by D. Conterno (2026)

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  FROM REPUBLIC TO “EMPIRE”: A STAR WARS’ PALPATINE-INSPIRED WORST-CASE MODEL FOR THE UNITED STATES IN 2026–2028 by D. Conterno (2026) Purpose and method (what this is and what it is not) This article is a red-team scenario exercise: a structured “worst-case” pathway that asks, “If democratic backsliding through executive aggrandisement were to accelerate, what might it look like, and what early warning indicators would we watch?” This is a standard analytic technique used to challenge complacency and reduce groupthink; the UK Ministry of Defence’s Red Teaming Handbook describes red teaming as a way to recognise and correct biased or constrained thinking before it hardens into faulty judgement. It is not an assertion that the U.S. government is running a Star Wars like Palpatine plan. It is a stress test of institutions. In democratic-backsliding research, Nancy Bermeo describes a shift away from overt coups towards “executive aggrandisement” and more subtle institutional erosi...