Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World (2024) by Anne Applebaum is a non-fiction book which explores how modern authoritarianism, which the author dubs “autocracy,” operates through an interconnected network of illiberal regimes that threaten liberal democracies through corrupt financial dealings, disinformation campaigns, destabilization tactics, and military action. Applebaum provides an analysis of how leaders in countries like Russia, China, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and others share tactics, financial systems, and complex grids to undermine democratic institutions, not only in their own nations but around the world.

Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist, is known for her extensive writings on authoritarianism, Eastern-European history, and democracy. Applebaum wrote several bestsellers reflecting her commitment to liberal democratic values, such as Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism (2020) and Gulag: A History (2003), for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

This guide uses the Random House 2024 eBook version, containing 211 pages.

Content Warning: The source text sustains an intense focus on political repression, with mentions of torture, state violence, and human rights abuses.

Summary

In the Introduction to Autocracy, Inc., Anne Applebaum explores how modern autocratic regimes operate as interconnected networks defined by kleptocracy and repression. These regimes, while ideologically diverse, share a commitment to retaining power and wealth, cooperating through financial deals, security exchanges, and technology. Applebaum argues that, unlike past dictators, today’s autocrats disregard global criticism and use overt repression to maintain control, undermining democracy at home and abroad. She emphasizes that modern autocrats view democracy as an existential threat, fearing popular uprisings and democratic movements.

In Chapter 1, Applebaum traces the origins of the economic ties between the Soviet Union and Western Europe, focusing on gas pipelines from Siberia to the West—an arrangement that is still influencing geopolitical alliances. This trade, initiated in the 1960s, marked a shift in East-West relations, driven by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s idea of Ostpolitik. However, US leaders feared dependence on an undemocratic regime. Applebaum critiques the optimistic view that economic engagement, popularized by figures like Francis Fukuyama, would foster democracy in autocratic states like Russia and China. Instead, she argues, trade allowed autocracies to grow, with Vladimir Putin turning Russia into a kleptocratic state. Western businesses enabled Putin’s rise by prioritizing profits over democratic values. Applebaum illustrates this tendency through the case of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who laundered money through US investments, illustrating the modus operandi of global corruption operated by autocratic actors.

Chapter 2 examines how Hugo Chávez, initially seen as a reformer, embraced Venezuela’s corrupt oil-based system after becoming president in 1998. Despite early warnings from allies like intelligence chief Jesús Urdaneta about corruption among officials, Chávez suppressed investigations and removed Urdaneta, allowing kleptocracy to thrive. Corruption infiltrated every level of Venezuelan society, particularly through manipulated currency exchange rates, ultimately leading to economic collapse, widespread poverty, and suffering.

Under US sanctions imposed in 2017, Venezuela’s regime survived through illegal activities such as drug trafficking and gasoline smuggling, relying on alliances with autocratic states like Russia, China, Cuba, Turkey, and Iran for economic and military support. In the same chapter, Applebaum details the gold-smuggling network involving Zimbabwean diplomat Uebert Angel, who used his diplomatic position to funnel illegal profits globally.

In Chapter 3, Anne Applebaum contrasts China’s violent suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests with the democratic movements in Eastern Europe. China’s Communist Party developed advanced digital control systems to censor information and suppress dissent. Using surveillance tools, China controls regions like Xinjiang and silences internal opposition. Applebaum explains that modern autocracies, like China and Russia, export anti-democratic narratives to undermine global faith in democracy. She contrasts 20th-century utopian propaganda with today’s autocratic tactics, which promote cynicism and passivity by overwhelming citizens with conflicting information.

Chapter 4 explores the origins of the post-WWII international human rights framework, emphasizing the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Initially opposed by autocratic regimes like the Soviet Union, this framework became the foundation for treaties promoting global human rights. However, Applebaum argues that modern autocracies, including Russia and China, are actively working to dismantle these norms. They aim to replace human rights language with concepts like “sovereignty” and promote “multipolarity” to undermine the rules-based international order.

Applebaum also highlights the rise of transnational repression, exemplified by Belarus’s 2021 hijacking of a Ryanair flight to capture a dissident. She describes how autocratic regimes, such as Syria’s Assad regime, backed by Russia and Iran, exploit international law, committing human rights abuses while challenging democratic values globally.

In Chapter 5, Anne Applebaum analyzes how modern autocratic regimes use smear campaigns to undermine opposition. She begins by discussing Gene Sharp’s advocacy for nonviolent resistance, which inspired movements worldwide, from Serbia to Ukraine and Hong Kong. Despite their successes, many of these movements are eventually defeated as autocratic regimes co-opt similar tactics, discrediting leaders and framing them as traitors. Applebaum highlights the case of Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire, whose viral #ThisFlag movement protested the regime’s corruption. Mawarire was arrested, smeared as unpatriotic, and eventually forced into exile, showcasing how governments use propaganda, media, and legal systems to discredit dissidents.

In the Epilogue, Applebaum reflects on the growing solidarity among pro-democracy activists. Applebaum argues that no single country or politician can combat global kleptocracy alone. She calls for a united international coalition to expose corruption, reform secretive financial practices, and counter disinformation. She highlights the success of activists like Alexei Navalny in linking elite corruption to everyday struggles, and calls for a global campaign to promote transparency. Applebaum concludes by stressing the fragility of democracy, urging collective action to defend and strengthen it in the face of autocratic threats.