Back to Results
Cover image of Authoritarianism Goes Global
Cover image of Authoritarianism Goes Global
Share this Title:

Authoritarianism Goes Global

The Challenge to Democracy

edited by Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, and Christopher Walker

Publication Date
Binding Type

With democracy in decline, authoritarian governments are staging a comeback around the world.

Over the past decade, illiberal powers have become emboldened and gained influence within the global arena. Leading authoritarian countries—including China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela—have developed new tools and strategies to contain the spread of democracy and challenge the liberal international political order. Meanwhile, the advanced democracies have retreated, failing to respond to the threat posed by the authoritarians.

As undemocratic regimes become more assertive, they are...

With democracy in decline, authoritarian governments are staging a comeback around the world.

Over the past decade, illiberal powers have become emboldened and gained influence within the global arena. Leading authoritarian countries—including China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela—have developed new tools and strategies to contain the spread of democracy and challenge the liberal international political order. Meanwhile, the advanced democracies have retreated, failing to respond to the threat posed by the authoritarians.

As undemocratic regimes become more assertive, they are working together to repress civil society while tightening their grip on cyberspace and expanding their reach in international media. These political changes have fostered the emergence of new counternorms—such as the authoritarian subversion of credible election monitoring—that threaten to further erode the global standing of liberal democracy.

In Authoritarianism Goes Global, a distinguished group of contributors present fresh insights on the complicated issues surrounding the authoritarian resurgence and the implications of these systemic shifts for the international order. This collection of essays is critical for advancing our understanding of the emerging challenges to democratic development.

Contributors: Anne Applebaum, Anne-Marie Brady, Alexander Cooley, Javier Corrales, Ron Deibert, Larry Diamond, Patrick Merloe, Abbas Milani, Andrew Nathan, Marc F. Plattner, Peter Pomerantsev, Douglas Rutzen, Lilia Shevtsova, Alex Vatanka, Christopher Walker, and Frederic Wehrey

Reviews

Reviews

The contributions of this volume are good, and the book as whole represents a solid primer on this new, more authoritarian, world order.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
256
ISBN
9781421419978
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: The Authoritarian "Big Five"
Chapter 1. China's Challenge
Chapter 2. Forward to the Past in Russia
Chapter 3. Iran's Paradoxical Regime
Chapter 4. Iran Abroad
Chapter 5

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: The Authoritarian "Big Five"
Chapter 1. China's Challenge
Chapter 2. Forward to the Past in Russia
Chapter 3. Iran's Paradoxical Regime
Chapter 4. Iran Abroad
Chapter 5. Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela
Chapter 6. Saudi Arabia's Anxious Autocrats
Part II: Arenas of "Soft-Power" Competition
Chapter 7. Countering Democratic Norms
Chapter 8. Election Monitoring vs. Disinformation
Chapter 9. The Leninist Roots of Civil Society Repression
Chapter 10. Civil Society Under Assault
Chapter 11. The Kremlin's Information War
Chapter 12. China's Foreign Propaganda Machine
Chapter 13. Cyberspace Under Siege
Chapter 14. Dealing with the Authoritarian Resurgence
About the Authors
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Larry Diamond

Larry Diamond is coeditor of the Journal of Democracy, codirector of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Featured Contributor

Marc F. Plattner

Marc F. Plattner is vice president for research and studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. Plattner and Diamond are coeditors of the Journal of Democracy.
Christopher Walker
Featured Contributor

Christopher Walker

Christopher Walker is Vice President for Studies and Analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy. He is a coeditor of Authoritarianism Goes Global: The Challenge to Democracy and Sharp Power: Rising Authoritarian Influence.