For much of the three decades that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, liberal democracy appeared to be history's undisputed destination. Elections spread across continents, authoritarian regimes seemed destined either to reform or to disappear, and the language of the rule of law, individual rights and the separation of powers became part of a seemingly universal political vocabulary.
Today that confidence has faded and autocracies have regained momentum, while democratic institutions have entered a period of visible strain. Ageing populations, growing economic inequalities, declining trust in institutions and the weakening of social bonds have fuelled discontent across many western societies. At the same time, the digital revolution, once celebrated as a force for openness and democratisation, has provided authoritarian governments with new tools to project influence far beyond their borders. Through social media platforms, online disinformation networks and sophisticated propaganda campaigns, autocracies have learned to exploit the fractures already present within democratic systems.
This is the starting point of Autocracy, Inc., the latest book by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Anne Applebaum. Rather than depicting authoritarian regimes as isolated states pursuing separate agendas, Applebaum argues that they increasingly operate as a loose but effective network, exchanging resources, technologies and strategies to preserve power and weaken democratic norms.
