How Propaganda is Used to Destroy Democracy
with
Mary Wald
author, Founder & President of the community
followed by
Keys to the White House: 2024 Election Prediction
with
Allan Lichtman
Presidential Historian & Distinguished Professor
The Common Good hosted a compelling two-part discussion featuring two distinguished speakers: Mary Wald, author of Sowing Hate and Chaos: How Propaganda is Used to Destroy Democracy, and Allan Lichtman, the presidential historian famously known as the “Nostradamus of U.S. elections.”
From 5:30 to 6:00 pm ET, Mary Wald explored how propaganda has been used to incite division and violence across nations—highlighting cases from Germany, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Myanmar—that ultimately led to mass violence and the installation of authoritarian regimes under the guise of restoring "order." Wald, who has worked with Nobel Peace Prize laureates for over two decades, also discussed how similar strategies were being deployed in the United States to sow division and hate.
From 6:00 to 6:30 pm ET, Allan Lichtman shared his latest analysis of the 2024 election using his revolutionary system, the “Keys to the White House.” Drawing on this highly accurate predictive system, he revealed his forecast for the race and explained the reasoning behind it. With a proven track record of accurately predicting 9 out of 10 presidential elections since 1984, Lichtman offered insights no political enthusiast could afford to miss.
About Our Speaker’s
Mary Wald has been working closely with Nobel Peace Prize laureates for more than 22 years. She has written, edited, placed media, and organized the Nobel laureates into collective actions on crucial social issues, including the use of torture by the U.S., the execution of dissidents by the Saudis, and the treatment of the Dalai Lama by China. Her work has been published or profiled by the New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Hong Kong Morning Post, on CNN, NPR, and more.
In 2000 Mary founded TheCommunity.com, an online portal for peace and human rights, with José Ramos-Horta, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and currect President of Timor-Leste, formerly East Timor. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the active human rights advisor for the site for 14 years. 27 Nobel Peace Prize laureates have participated in actions on the site.
Mary was a consultant to Peter Gabriel and Richard Branson on the founding of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice, and human rights, founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007. For five years she was the Public Relations partner on the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, founded by Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni and former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. In this capacity she handled all logistics and coordinated international PR for the presentation of the Summit’s peace award by Mayor Veltroni and President Gorbachev.
In November, 2022, Mary initiated a letter in support of 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa who was facing legal persecution for her online news site in the Philippines. The letter was signed by her fellow Nobel laureate, Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov, who also taped a video in support, and all of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, with the wife of political prisoner Ales Bialiatski signing on his behalf. The letter received front page coverage in the New York Times. Ressa was subsequently acquitted of all charges. Mary continues to service as the international public relations representative for President Ramos-Horta.
Allan Lichtman is a presidential historian and Distinguished Professor at American University. Lichtman's prediction system, the Keys to the White House, has correctly predicted the outcomes of all US presidential elections since 1984. He has lectured in the US and internationally and provided commentary for major US and foreign networks and leading newspapers and magazines across the world. He has been an expert witness in some 100 civil and voting rights cases.
He has published eleven books and several hundred popular and scholarly articles. His book, The Case for Impeachment was a national independent bookstore bestseller. His book, White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction. He co-authored book with Richard Breitman, FDR and the Jews, won the National Jewish Book Award Prize in American Jewish History and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times book prize in history. He was listed rise.global as # 85 among 100 most influential geopolitical experts in the world and received the lifetime achievement award from Who's Who.
Allan received his PhD from Harvard University in 1973 with a specialty in modern American history and quantitative methods. He became an Assistant Professor of History at American University in 1973 and a Full Professor in 1980, and a Distinguished Professor in 2011. He was the recipient of the Scholar/Teacher of the year award for 1992-93.
