The situation in the United States currently is a “huge mess,” the online news director of The New Yorker, David Stephenson Rohde, told N1, explaining that many conspiracy theories are being spread in the country and that he saw something similar when he reported from Bosnia during the 1992-1995 war.

“It was tragic watching the war and all these conspiracy theories that were being spread and it seemed that it added to the fighting that was going on in Bosnia,” Rohde said, adding that he, like other American journalists, felt that “these kinds of conspiracy theories and false claims and division couldn’t emerge in the United States.”

“And guess what – it’s emerged,” he said.

“Thank God there is no systemic violence, in terms of fighting and civil war in the country, but the breadth of the division in the US, the way people believe in conspiracy theories about their enemies, is getting as bad as I remember it in Bosnia,” he added.

Rohde pointed out that there are real economic tensions in the US.

“There’s growing inequality. There is a terrible problem with policing and racism, as we saw in the killing of George Floyd,” he said, arguing that US President Donald Trump is “exacerbating” and “taking advantage of those divisions.”

He stressed the necessity of reforms in the US and warned of what might happen if there are none.

“If there isn’t reform, if there isn’t a political solution, if our divide continues (…) I do fear violence in the United States. I saw how terribly that can go in Bosnia. One side decides they can quickly win a conflict, so does the other, and it just turns into a nightmare for everyone,” Rohde said.

“I’m more concerned today about the United States than I’ve ever been in my last 25 years as a journalist,” he said.

Rohde also spoke about his experiences covering the war in Bosnia, including him being accused of being a spy and imprisoned by Bosnian Serb police.

He also spoke about his time covering the conflict in Afghanistan.

The full interview can be seen in the video above.