From Foreign Affairs, the meaning of sharp power: Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig on how authoritarian states project influence. Welcome to the era of presidents for life. There’s a looming and shockingly predictable crisis in Russia — and in major authoritarian countries around the world. Nervana Mahmoud on competing authoritarianism: Sisi versus Erdogan. We looked at almost 100 leaders who tried Xi Jinping-style power grabs — here’s how they turned out. Michael Albertus (Chicago): The Fate of Former Authoritarian Elites Under Democracy. Daniel Kalder: 10 things I learned from reading terrible books written by dictators.
Jennifer Rubin on what authoritarians do: Attack the apolitical administration of justice. Why isn’t Trump president for life yet? He is following the same playbook as other authoritarian populists around the world; he’s just bad at it — so far. Comparing Trump to South American authoritarians reveals a dangerous misunderstanding of democracy: Such comparisons fundamentally misunderstand Latin American populism.
