Making the World Safe for Dictatorship

Authoritarian states invest in foreign-facing media, hire public relations firms, and showcase their popular celebrities to manage their image abroad. However, they also use obstructive tactics such as censorship and intimidation to discredit their critics and suppress bad news. Alexander Dukalskis' book "Making the World Safe for Dictatorship" examines how authoritarian states use image management to enhance their internal and external security and make their world safe for dictatorship. The book uses a diverse array of data and builds a new dataset to categorize nearly 1,200 instances of authoritarian states repressing their critical exiles abroad.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 10 August 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Authoritarian states go to great lengths to control their international reputations. They invest in foreign-facing media, hire public relations firms, promote their popular celebrities, and highlight their achievements to elite and popular foreign audiences. However, there is a less visible side to these endeavors that is often overlooked. Authoritarian regimes attempt to obscure or censor negative news about their governments and often discredit their critics abroad. In extreme cases, authoritarian states intimidate, physically attack, or even murder their opponents overseas. While all states strive to manage their global image to some extent, authoritarian states in the post-Cold War era have particular incentives to do so given the prevalence of democracy as an international norm.

This book explores how authoritarian states manage their image abroad, employing both promotional tactics of persuasion and obstructive tactics of repression. Alexander Dukalskis examines the strategies employed by authoritarian states for image management and the variations in these strategies across different states. Moreover, Dukalskis investigates the extent to which some authoritarian states succeed in using image management to enhance their internal and external security, ultimately contributing to the establishment of a safe environment for dictatorship.

To support his analysis, Making the World Safe for Dictatorship utilizes a diverse range of data sources. Interviews, cross-national data on extraterritorial repression, examination of public relations filings with the United States government, analysis of authoritarian propaganda, media frequency analysis, and speeches and statements by authoritarian leaders are among the materials used. Dukalskis also develops a new dataset, the Authoritarian Actions Abroad Database, which categorizes nearly 1,200 instances in which authoritarian states engage in repressive actions abroad using publicly available information.

In conclusion, Authoritarian states work diligently to manage their images abroad, employing a range of tactics to promote their interests and secure their positions of power. While these efforts may yield short-term benefits, they often come at the expense of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. By examining the strategies employed by authoritarian states for image management, this book sheds light on the challenges faced by democratic societies in the face of authoritarianism and provides valuable insights into the mechanisms that enable dictatorships to thrive.

Weight: 534g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197520130