The dictators who want to run the world – a review of Anne Applebaum’s ’Autocracy, Inc.’

Anne Applebaum, an American journalist and researcher, explains at the start of her book, Autocracy, Inc., that an autocrat is not just one powerful bad guy at the top, but also a support system of kleptocratic finance, complex security and techno-experts who provide surveillance and disinformation. Increasingly, these autocrats also assist each other. Corrupt companies trade with corrupt companies. Security police share data. Disinformation from bot farms reinforce messages on behalf of allied dictators.

Introductory chapter – how modern autocracies work against liberal democracies

Belarus is supported not only by Russia but also by Chinese investment. Even as the US and EU ramped up sanctions on Venezuela, it received loans from Russia, a tractor factory from Belarus, security advisers from Cuba, and security kit from China. This international collaboration makes it almost impossible for the local pro-democracy campaigners, who courageously have mounted protests against stolen elections, to win against the local strongman (and they are all men!)

The autocrats are impervious to criticism. In Zimbabwe and Myanmar, they just concentrate on self-enrichment and remaining in power. In Iran, they just dismiss the view of Western ‘infidels’. In Cuba and Venezuela, they just see evidence of an imperialist plot against them. China and Russia dispute human rights arguments whenever these rights are against their interests.

Back in the 20th century, autocrats may have come from the communist left (Stalin) or from the fascist right (Hitler), but they were all against liberal democracies. Even Sayyid Qutb, whose writing inspired many radical Islamist movements, built his movement by arguing against “the selfish individualism” of modern democracies. Their successor autocrats of this century also see the West as the enemy, whether this is NATO, the EU, or their own internal protesters. What they want to banish is the rule of law as a non-partisan authority free of political influence; the rights of political opposition, and assembly, of free speech.

Applebaum closes the introductory chapter with an account of how Russia used the powers described in Autocracy, Inc. to attack Ukraine, and duly received support from fellow autocracies in China, North Korea, Iran, and Belarus. Client African states such as Zimbabwe, Mali, and the Central African Republic supported Russia in UN debates about Ukraine.

‘The Greed That Binds’ – money laundering and concealed wealth

The next chapter is an account of how the resource wealth of Soviet lands (gas and oil) from 1967 onwards was developed and then, from the 1990s, seized from public ownership (under the Soviet system) and placed into the hands of the powerful few. The West colluded in this, especially Germany, with the motto “Wandel durch Handel” (change through trade). But the appearance of this new found capitalism in Russia was an illusion. Banks that appeared to be legitimate were also money-laundering operations to funnel stolen public funds into western currencies.

Ukrainian businessman (now Israeli billionaire), Ihor Kolomoisky, defrauded PrivatBank and used the funds to buy assets in the USA rust belt. As estate agents are not legally bound to investigate the source of purchase money, it can only be guessed how many of the condos in Trump’s estate, and the many stately residences in London, are in fact owned by Russian kleptocrats.

The West, in fact, has enabled and absorbed this flow of money, not only from Russia but from other countries in the world where the well-connected steal from the public purse to deposit the funds abroad for their own or their family’s advantage. The next chapter, “Kleptocracy Metastasizes”, gives examples of how this was done in Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Kyrgyzstan.

‘Controlling The Narrative’ – protest surveillance

The following chapter starts with how China built its internet firewall in the decades following the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 – which all reference to has been virtually erased. China’s surveillance technology to curb protests is now sold across the world, marketed also as ‘safer city’ tech. The democratic world also uses spyware, as revealed by Edward Snowden, but the stories play out differently as they are freely discussed in the media. China and Russia have invested hugely in creating media outlets to project their view of the world to other countries, and this chapter surveys some of them.

‘Changing the Operating System’ – the language of dictators

The next chapter is a misnomer, as it is not about the belly of a computer, but rather how autocracy tackles the basics of Western democracies by undermining the language of human rights. For instance, Chinese diplomats prefer talk of “mutual respect” to references of international law. Russia tries to change the conversation by using such terms as “the decadent West”, which they describe as “decrepit”. With their autocratic allies, the message is a desire for a ‘multipolar world’ that is not dominated by the USA.

‘Smearing the Democrats’ – opposing autocracy

Chapter five praises a pamphlet produced in 1994 by American political scientist Gene Sharp for Burmese democracy activists, which gives a comprehensive list of possible actions for democrats who oppose autocratic governments. But, sadly, there follows the story of Evan Mawarire, a Zimbabwean patriot, who ignited the #ThisFlag protests in 2016, only to be systematically crushed by the government and driven into exile.

One effective tool used by autocratic governments is a smear campaign on social media against opponents, using both paid influencers, and language that is then inflamed by an online culture of reactivity, ‘rage bait’ and trolling via anonymity.

Donald Trump uses such techniques.

This book was published in 2024, before Trump became President of the USA for a second time. The comment that in the USA, so far, the rulers had not used state instruments, legal, judicial or financial, to target opponents is no longer true.

Looking to the US – Trump’s threat to democracy

For the paperback edition of this book, published 2025, Applebaum had to write a new preface about recent changes in the USA.

“Americans who believe in the rule of law, European and Asian allies who have long argued in favor of American leadership, democratic activists around the world who admired what America stood for – all of them, all of us, need to rethink how we approach the world in the light of these dramatic changes.”

Epilogue – trade and the importance of unity

Applebaum’s epilogue summarises the dangers of becoming dependent on autocratic nations for trade. Those gas pipelines are now cut, but what about the rare minerals? The Chinese surveillance tech? The risk of overdependence on trade with China or Russia is not just economic: it is now existential.

We must “decouple, derisk and rebuild“. There is no longer a liberal world order. The reality is that Russian influence campaigns and Chinese commercial weight are shaping our world.

“Democrats Unite” is the final rallying cry of this book. Liberal societies are in danger, both from the external threats of autocratic societies, and also by divisions and demagogues within. They can still be saved, but only if those of us who live in them make the effort to do so.

‘Call to Action’

Applebaum has been following the politics of all of this for at least three decades (and even now she divides her time between the USA, UK and Poland). Her account is well researched, with more than 190 source references and an excellent index. Her diagnosis of the major political confrontation of our time is trenchant and well-worded. As is the final call to action!

Autocracy, Inc. – The dictators who want to run the world by Anne Applebaum is published by Penguin, 2025.