Robert Pape is a political scientist at the University of Chicago and the founding director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, where he has spent years studying political violence and its causes.
In his new book, 'Our Own Worst Enemies: America in the Age of Violent Populism,' Pape examines the growing acceptance of political violence in the United States. Drawing on historical research, surveys, and interviews, he argues that the danger extends beyond organized extremist groups to ordinary Americans who increasingly see violence as a legitimate political tool.
Pape looks at the forces driving this shift, including demographic change, economic inequality, and declining trust in institutions, and considers what it will take to restore the norms of peaceful political disagreement
