Applebaum, who is the wife of Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, says in her new book Autocracy, Inc. that regimes such as communist China, nationalist Russia, theocratic Iran, populist Hungary, Venezuela's and North Korea's dictatorships may not share a unified worldview.
However, she argues they are united by the desire of their rulers to govern without checks and balances — no independent courts, no free press, and no rule of law.
According to Applebaum, these regimes opportunistically cooperate to resist the values of liberal democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, as these ideas threaten their absolute grip on power.
In a recent meeting with the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in London, Applebaum drew comparisons between modern autocracies and 20th-century dictatorships, pointing to several key differences, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
She emphasized that today’s autocrats are often extraordinarily wealthy, having amassed fortunes with the help of the global financial system, which enables them to hide their wealth.
In contrast to the Soviet Union, which actively promoted its system, today’s autocracies are more focused on discrediting democratic principles rather than spreading a particular ideology, Applebaum said.
Additionally, modern autocracies collaborate more on surveillance technology, with China being particularly advanced in this field.
Applebaum also detailed the various threats posed by different autocracies. Putin, for example, presents a direct military threat to Europe, currently occupying parts of Ukraine but potentially targeting Baltic states, Poland, or even Germany in the future, she said, as cited by the PAP news agency.
China, on the other hand, does not pose a physical threat to Europe but focuses on controlling critical infrastructure, such as ports and telecommunications, which could provide them with significant strategic leverage.
Meanwhile, Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, particularly in the Middle East, poses a different kind of threat, destabilizing democracies through violence.
One of the common characteristics of many autocratic regimes, Applebaum said, is the leaders’ willingness to let their countries collapse to maintain personal power. Venezuela is a prime example—once the richest country in South America and now the poorest, despite its vast oil reserves.
Applebaum pointed out that Venezuelan leaders chose to oversee their country’s decline rather than give up control, and she warned that Putin may follow a similar path, prioritizing Russia’s imperial ambitions over its well-being.
When asked about former US President Donald Trump’s place in this autocratic network, Applebaum described him as unpredictable, with no clear ideology and driven by personal, financial or political interests depending on the situation, the PAP news agency reported.
Speaking about Poland, where she has personal ties through her husband, Applebaum criticized the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which governed until October 2023, for undermining the independence of the judiciary, attacks on the free press, and using state funds for party purposes.
Applebaum praised Poland's current ruling pro-European coalition, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, for its attempts to reverse these processes, while pointing out that the threat from Russia is a rare point of consensus in Polish politics.
Applebaum concluded by saying that the conflict between autocracies and democracies is central to today’s global tensions, the PAP news agency reported.
However, unlike the Cold War, countries are not forced to choose clear sides, with many operating in a gray area, she said.
She believes that democratic nations have become more aware of the dangers posed by the rise of autocracies and their reliance on them for resources and industrial production, but stressed that the response has been too slow.
Applebaum’s book Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, was released in July in the United States, and will soon be available in Poland.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP