Making the World Safe for Dictatorship

Reviews / Votes

This book carries the authoritarianism scholarship forward with a comprehensive analytical framework, a freely available database and rich interview data. It will appeal to academics, policymakers and foreign correspondents who are considering working in China * Chi Zhang, Europe-Asia Studies * The unfortunate conclusion is that the world is becoming ever safer for dictators. Dukalskis builds the framework to untangle the growing and insidious power of authoritarians to sell dictatorship and crush dissent. * A. R. Brunello, CHOICE * By connecting concepts such as authoritarian soft power and public diplomacy to extraterritorial repression, Dukalskis shows how autocratic regimes shape global norms. ... Dukalskis builds the framework to untangle the growing and insidious power of authoritarians to sell dictatorship and crush dissent. Highly recommended. * CHOICE * Alexander Dukalskis's intriguing book, in which he puts forward the concept of 'authoritarian image management', defined as 'comprising efforts by the state or its proxies to enhance or protect the legitimacy of the state's political system for audiences outside its borders'. * Falk Hartig, International Affairs * It is difficult to combine approaches from Comparative Politics and International Relations in ways that both speak to contemporary issues, yet also provide scholars with a framework that could be applied to other cases. Dukalskis deftly accomplishes this task in Making the World Safe for Dictatorship. * Thomas Bruce, Democratization * Intriguing * G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs * This is an outstanding book! While we routinely analyze domestic authoritarian politics or study how international factors affect national politics, Dukalskis turns the tables. His ideas about how authoritarian regimes shape their image abroad are not only theoretically lucid and innovative, but the abundance of empirical information that is so skillfully weaved together is equally impressive. Dukalskis is to be applauded for a pioneering book that will serve as the reference point for a future research area that-nolens volens-will become more and more pressing. * Johannes Gerschewski, WZB Berlin Social Science Center * Making the World Safe for Dictatorship is a fascinating survey of the techniques of authoritarian image management, from propaganda and PR aimed at international audiences to the use of censorship, threats, and coercion abroad. Dukalskis' book sheds light on and provides a framework for analyzing an important global phenomenon: the use of extraterritorial mechanisms by authoritarian regimes to buttress and secure their rule. * Sheena Greitens, The University of Texas at Austin * As Making the World Safe for Dictatorship demonstrates, today's autocracies are not hermit kingdoms ruled by simple-minded dictators. To the contrary, they are sophisticated regimes that use transnational connections to shore up their power. With evidence from China, Rwanda, and North Korea, Dukalskis offers a compelling framework that integrates the repressive and image-making logics of transnational authoritarianism. By doing so, he radically expands our understanding of how such regimes operate in our globalized world. * Edward Schatz, University of Toronto, author of Slow Anti-Americanism * This is an excellent book that represents a major contribution to the field of study on authoritarian politics. Alexander Dukalskis has written a nuanced and highly illuminating study of the ways in which authoritarian regimes seek to manage their image abroad and shape the international environment to their own needs. The book includes a sophisticated theoretical framework that identifies the motivations, tactics, and outcomes behind these image management efforts, and it supports the theoretical arguments with innovative and original data. It is essential reading for scholars and practitioners interested in the international politics of authoritarian rule. * Oisin Tansey, King's College London *