Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century

354 Pages·2022·10.713 MB·English

by  Sergei Guriev, Daniel Treisman

SPIN DICTATORS

SPIN DICTATORS
THE CHANGING FACE OF TYRANNY
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
SERGEI GURIEV AND DANIEL TREISMAN
Prince ton University Press
Prince ton and Oxford
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ISBN 978-0-691- 21141-1
ISBN (e- book) 978-0-691-22446-6
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This book has been composed in Arno Pro
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Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
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To Katia, Sasha, and Andrei
—S G
To Susi, Alex, and Lara
—D T

CONTENTS
Preface ix
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter 1 Fear and Spin 3
PART I: HOW IT’S DONE 31
Chapter 2 Discipline, but Don’t Punish 33
Chapter 3 Postmodern Propaganda 62
Chapter 4 Sensible Censorship 86
Chapter 5 Democracy for Dictators 114
Chapter 6 Global Pillage 136
PART II: WHY IT’S HAPPENING AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT 167
Chapter 7 The Modernization Cocktail 169
Chapter 8 The Future of Spin 193
Notes 221
References 269
Index 327
vii

PREFACE
Early in the twenty- first century, global politics hit a major milestone.
For the first time, the number of democracies in the world surged past
the tally of authoritarian states. As this seismic “third wave” crested,
experts identified 98 countries with free government, compared to 80
still controlled by dictators.1 The optimism was infectious. New infor-
mation technologies, globalization, and economic development seemed
to be calling “time’s up” on strongman rule. As countries modernized,
tyranny was becoming obsolete.
The cele brations did not last long. In fact, they hardly got started.
Within a few years, the advance of freedom had petered out, yielding
what some quickly termed a “demo cratic recession.” A dramatic finan-
cial crisis, born in the United States, sent the global economy crashing,
undercutting faith in Western governance. By 2019, the number of de-
mocracies had fallen to 87 while that of dictatorships was back up to 92.
In the West, liberalism was proving l ittle match for popu lism, while in
the East, all eyes were turned to China’s meteoric rise. The millennial
exuberance gave way to a sense of gloom.
Today’s po liti cal pessimism is a bit overdone. By most mea sures,
global democracy remains not far below its all-t ime high. But the dark
mood points to a genuine puzzle. Even if dictatorships are not taking
over, the question is how they can survive at all—a nd even prosper—in
an ultramodern world. Why, a fter all the brutal manias of the twentieth
century— from fascism to communism— have been discredited, do we
still see new autocracies rising from the ashes? And what to make of the
strongmen who are embracing tools of modernity, using Western tech-
nologies to challenge Western ways of life?
ix