Anne Applebaum on the Rise of Global Autocracy and Trump's 'State Capture'

The Global Autocratic Network

• 🌍 Autocrats worldwide are not forming a formal alliance but are increasingly sharing interests and methods.
• 💡 This network includes diverse regimes like Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela, united by a common attitude towards finance and power.
• 💰 Leaders in these autocracies are often billionaires who utilize opaque financial systems to hide and move money globally, sometimes with Western institutional cooperation.

Undermining Democratic Norms

• 🏛️ Autocratic regimes collaborate on narratives that portray democracy as weak and autocracy as stable, defending traditional hierarchies against perceived democratic degeneracy.
• ⚔️ They actively work to block the influence of the democratic world, as seen in the support Russia receives for its war in Ukraine from China, Iran, and North Korea.
• ⚖️ A key goal for autocrats is to overthrow the ideals of human rights and dismantle the post-WWII international rules-based order.

The Weakening of Global Institutions

• 🚫 The UN Security Council has become largely impotent due to the presence and actions of autocratic states like Russia and China.
• 📉 This undermines the effectiveness of international bodies, making it difficult to address global challenges or hold autocratic regimes accountable.
• ⚠️ There's a dangerous tendency to dismiss these institutions' failures without proposing viable alternatives, leaving a vacuum for autocratic influence.

Trump and the 'State Capture' Model

• 🏢 Donald Trump's business career involved attracting money from regions like Russia through shell companies, indicating an early engagement with autocratic financial methods.
• 🗣️ He has consistently admired leaders who rule without checks and balances, free press, or independent courts.
• 🇺🇸 In his presidency, Trump has exhibited behavior similar to autocrats by ruling through executive decree, making illegal decisions, and attempting to undermine the legal and political system.
• 🎯 The goal is not necessarily outright dictatorship but 'state capture': taking over state institutions to serve the interests of Trump, his friends, or his political movement.

The Erosion of Truth and the Rise of Cynicism

• 🤥 Modern autocrats, including Trump, lie deliberately and constantly not to convince, but to pollute the information space and foster widespread cynicism.
• 📉 This tactic aims to make people disbelieve everything, leading to apathy and disengagement from politics, which benefits autocratic leaders.
• 🔬 Unlike scientific inquiry, which embraces doubt and debate, Trump's approach involves destroying established scientific and public health institutions, leading to negative consequences for citizens.

The Path Forward: Coalitions and Collaboration

• 🤝 The only viable answer to the rise of autocracy and kleptocracy lies in the creation of coalitions.
• 🌍 Internationally, states must collaborate to combat money laundering and dirty money, mirroring the cooperation seen among autocrats.
• ✊ People who care about liberal democracy, freedom, and rights must work together, potentially including democratic opposition movements within autocratic states.
• ✅ This collaborative effort, a form of 'Democrats United' against 'Autocracy Inc.', is presented as the sole way to counter the global autocratic trend.