CIA panel member says US is no longer a democracy but an 'anocracy'; warns of civil war

A key CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) advisory panel member, Barbara F Walter, has claimed that the United States is no longer a democracy but an 'anocracy' - a category between a democracy and an autocracy.

In her forthcoming book, 'How Civil Wars Start', Walter, who also serves on the Political Instability Task Force, said that the US meets several of the telltale signs that are a part of a road to the insurgency. She claimed that America has gone through the "pre-insurgency" and "incipient conflict" phases.

She labelled the US as an 'anocracy' after a slide based on factors in its criteria during the four years of the Trump administration. 

"No one wants to believe that their beloved democracy is in decline, or headed toward war," Barbara Walter wrote in her forthcoming book, according to Washington Post. 

"If you were an analyst in a foreign country looking at events in America — the same way you’d look at events in Ukraine or the Ivory Coast or Venezuela — you would go down a checklist, assessing each of the conditions that make civil war likely. And what you would find is that the United States, a democracy founded more than two centuries ago, has entered very dangerous territory," she added. 

Further, Walter said that the US is no longer the world’s oldest continuous democracy. "That honour is now held by Switzerland, followed by New Zealand, and then Canada," she added. In her book, Walter even went on to say that the US is closer to civil war than anyone would like to believe. 

Concern over possible coup after 2024 election

Meanwhile, three retired generals wrote in the Post that they were 'increasingly concerned' about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election and the potential for lethal chaos inside the US military.

On Friday, the three generals issued a warning of their own, fearing that the potential split in the American army may lead to a civil war if there is a coup attempt after 2024. They pointed to 'signs of potential turmoil in the armed forces' and noted that a disturbing number of active-duty members of the military took part in the Capitol riot, accounting for more than 1 in 10 people charged. 

The US Army will be divided into the pro-and anti-Trump camps while the enemy nations may take the advantage of the national security situation, the ex-military generals stated.

In the op-ed article, they called for a strict review of the chain of command with service members and ferret out mutineers and guards against insurrectionists and curb the political propaganda among the military.

"The military and lawmakers have been gifted hindsight to prevent another insurrection from happening in 2024 – but they will succeed only if they take decisive action now," they said. 

(Image: AP/Twitter)