Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

Applebaum opens Chapter 5 by presenting the work of Gene Sharp, an American academic, who advocated for nonviolent resistance to dictatorship and argued that autocratic regimes rely on fear and apathy to maintain power. In his pamphlet From Dictatorship to Democracy, Sharp argued that dictators are not invincible and that citizens should identify a regime’s weaknesses and overthrow it through peaceful means. His ideas, originally meant for Burmese activists in the 1990s, spread globally, inspiring movements in places like Serbia, Ukraine, and during the Arab Spring.

Sharp’s list of 198 nonviolent tactics, ranging from protests to strikes, became an organizing tool for many activist groups. These strategies, combined with symbolic acts like logos and protest colors, unified resistance movements across various countries. However, Applebaum notes, despite their success, as seen in Hong Kong’s protests against Chinese authoritarianism, these movements often face defeat when autocratic regimes like China co-opt similar tactics to undermine protests, such as discrediting leaders and turning democratic language into accusations of treason.

Applebaum then discusses the case of Evan Mawarire, a Pentecostal pastor in Zimbabwe, who in April 2016 recorded a video expressing frustration over his country’s endemic corruption and political degradation. Mawarire filmed himself wearing the Zimbabwean flag and discussed the symbolic meaning of the flag’s colors, with each color symbolizing an element which was stripped away by the autocratic regime. The video went viral and a movement was born, using the hashtag #ThisFlag as a symbol of protest against the regime’s corruption. Ordinary Zimbabweans rallied around Mawarire, and the movement gained momentum, culminating in a national strike.

The government started viewing Mawarire as a threat, launching smear campaigns to discredit him as unpatriotic and backed by foreign forces with interests in the country. Mawarire was arrested, tortured, and forced into exile. Ultimately, Applebaum notes, the regime’s propaganda succeeded in portraying him as a traitor. Though he returned to Zimbabwe to continue his activism, his efforts were in vain, as the regime adapted and survived. Mawarire has since settled abroad.

Applebaum argues that Mawarire’s experience in Zimbabwe demonstrates the effectiveness of smear campaigns in autocratic regimes. She observes that, by using the courts, media, and social media, governments frame dissidents as traitors or criminals, often combining false accusations with arrest and torture. This tactic creates lasting doubt about the victim, even when accusations are recognizably false.

Modern autocracies, Applebaum notes, sometimes murder dissidents, as seen in the cases of Jamal Khashoggi and Alexei Navalny, but they often avoid creating martyrs. This has been the case especially in the last half- decade. Instead, autocratic regimes use laws to label civic organizations as terrorist or extremist, while accusing opposition figures of corruption. These methods deflect attention from the regime’s own corruption, deepening public cynicism. Citizens become disengaged from politics, viewing all leaders as corrupt.

Applebaum argues that modern smear campaigns, which use state-controlled media, legal systems, and online harassment, are increasingly employed by both autocracies and democracies. These tactics, used to discredit political opponents, blur the lines between democratic decline and autocratic behavior. She gives the examples of Poland’s ruling party targeting critical judges and Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, attacking journalist Denise Dresser. Often, Applebaum notes, online trolls amplify these campaigns, spreading personal attacks and misinformation.