List of Authoritarianism articles
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In this black-and-white photo from 1984, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega is seen in profile as he speaks to a crowd of reporters and citizens at an outdoor press conference. Ortega gestures with one open hand and holds a microphone in the other. Members of the press hold up cameras or jot in notebooks. Is Nicaragua’s Dictatorship Nearing Its End?
How the once-revolutionary Ortega regime may have destined itself to the dustbin of history.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toast during a state visit in Pyongyang on June 19, in a photo distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik. The Anti-Authoritarian Handbook
Today’s autocrats have formed a global network. Those fighting them will have to do the same.
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A crowd marches forward; the man in the middle has blood on his shirt and appears to have a head injury. The Deep Roots of Bangladesh’s Crisis
How protests against a quota system turned into an uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s government.
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A man holds a sign reading: "Down with France down with ECOWAS," using the bloc's French acronym CEDEAO, as supporters of Niger's National Council for Safeguard of the Homeland gather in Niamey on Aug. 26, 2023. How ECOWAS Lost Its Way
An inability to stand up to constitutional coups—most recently in Togo—has undermined the bloc’s credibility.
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Syrians wave national flags and carry a large portrait of their president as they celebrate in the streets of the capital Damascus, a day after an election set to give the current President Bashar al-Assad a fourth term, on May 27, 2021. The Normalizing of Assad Has Been a Disaster
Syria’s president was welcomed back into the fold a year ago—and everything since then has gotten worse.
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A man displays a newspaper article on the attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. Why Political Assassinations Often Succeed
The attempted killing of the Slovak prime minister is part of a recent wave.
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A story in the front page of a newspaper in Tehran covers the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties on March 11, 2023. Democracies Aren’t the Peacemakers Anymore
How Washington can reclaim its diplomatic primacy in an authoritarian age.
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Opposition politician Victoire Ingabire speaks to the media outside the High Court in Kigali on March 13. Rwanda’s Undemocratic Election
An opposition candidate makes the case for letting her name appear on the ballot.
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People wearing black and holding up posters of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi mourn the death of the president at Valiasr Square in Tehran. Raisi’s Death Represents a Tipping Point for Iran
But it won’t change Tehran’s domestic or foreign policy.
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Orban stands before mics held up by journalists. Is ‘the Media’ Really Under Attack?
We need a new framework to understand how today’s autocrats control public opinion.
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Workers at a construction site of the new administrative capital of Egypt, an unfinished skyscraper is in the background. A Tale of Two Megalopolises
What new cities in Saudi Arabia and Egypt tell us about their autocrats.
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A woman wearing a dress with floral details and loose sleeves looks straight ahead. She is flanked by flags and statues of large cats in the background. ‘The Regime’ Misunderstands Autocracy
HBO’s new miniseries displays an undeniably American nonchalance toward power.
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A collage illustration shows half of the face of Joseph Stalin and half of the face of a larger Vladimir Putin alongside a star with a Z on top of it. Russia Is Back to the Stalinist Future
With a Soviet-style election, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has come full circle.
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Local residents listen to the Turkish President's speech next to his a banner with his portrait during a rally in the Beyoglu district on the eve of the presidential and parliamentary elections, on the European side of Istanbul, on May 13, 2023. Images) Local Elections Will Soon Decide Turkey’s Future
If Erdogan’s party wins back the country’s biggest cities, big shifts in Turkish politics could follow.
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People walks past traditional Russian matryoshka dolls portraying Russian and Soviet leaders (from L) Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Konstantin Chernenko, Vladimir Andropov, Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin displayed in a gift shop in downtown Moscow on Dec. 16, 2018. Soviet Succession Was Bad. America’s Is Worse.
Authoritarian elites often botch undemocratic transitions. Choosing to return Trump to office would be an own-goal of historic proportions.
