Autocracy, Inc.

The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

De: Anne Applebaum

Narrado por: Anne Applebaum

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer-prize winning author, an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The Times

"A masterful guide to the new age of authoritarianism... clear-sighted and fearless.”—John Simpson, The Guardian • "Especially timely."—The Washington Post

We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents.

But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran. Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another. The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America.

International condemnation and economic sanctions cannot move the autocrats. Even popular opposition movements, from Venezuela to Hong Kong to Moscow, don't stand a chance. The members of Autocracy, Inc, aren't linked by a unifying ideology, like communism, but rather a common desire for power, wealth, and impunity. In this urgent treatise, which evokes George Kennan's essay calling for "containment" of the Soviet Union, Anne Applebaum calls for the democracies to fundamentally reorient their policies to fight a new kind of threat.

©2024 Anne Applebaum (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An Economist Best Book of the Year

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year

“[An] excellent book. . . . a call to arms to defend our societies.”—Financial Times

“Anne Applebaum’s Autocracy, Inc. provides a trenchant account that indicates that Trump, for all his bluster about America First, is part of a global phenomenon—namely, the rise of an international kleptocracy that often works in tandem.”—Washington Monthly

A cogent analysis of the global threats to the liberal world order

The west should heed the warnings discussed. Thoughtful, forceful countermeasures by liberal democracies need to be developed, agreed upon and implemented

Timely warnings

This book is a very worthwhile listen for anyone who is concerned with our democracy and the precarious state of international affairs. It’s actually a little frightening. I read a lot of history and have often wondered what it felt like living on the precipice of WWII. Now I wonder if it felt like I feel today, like we have been blindly walking into catastrophe for a awhile but too many people just don’t seem to see it.

Anne Applebaum did OK narrating but still I would prefer that writers leave the narration to professional narrators. It’s hard enough to stay focused on non-fiction that is professionally narrated and non professionals can sometimes be less interesting.

Knowledge of topic

Always enjoy Applebaum’s expertise in authoritarian regimes. Educational and well read. Will recommend to friends with similar interest.

Persuasive/passionate

I just saw an Instagram post by that snarky Israeli anthropologist whose books I like, but he said there’s too much information. He is wrong. This book is filled with the information we all need to keep our democracy. Take notes. I hope we won’t need them after November 6, but if the wannabe autocrat wins, we’re all in trouble!

Clear assessment of world situation

Things I didn’t know about autocracies working together, of which now I wish I had remained in blissful ignorance. Important, intelligent, exhaustive and scary

Autocracy and the coordinated dangers

A little slow getting started, but that was necessary. A great informative eye opening struggle that we must make to understand how the corrupt moneyed interests are using their wealth to undermine democracy everywhere.

Clear and concise

It’s giving us a glimpse at our future. We have been warned and November will decide the road our country takes.

The new world order

Really a joy to watch a person with deep knowledge give their take on the new world order. Very compelling, and everything passes the sniff test. In some ways it’s like a 2024 version of the Clash of Civilizations.

Applebaum on Autocracy

"Autocracy Inc." is a timely and important
work, especially now that Donald Trump is back as US president and behaving like the malevolent dictator he has always wanted to be. It was eye-opening to me how autocracies form networks, so we can only hope that Trump's hatred of China, Iran and North Korea (though not of Russia) might help save the US from losing its democracy entirely. One problem with this audiobook is Ms Applebaum's rapid-fire delivery, probably forced upon her. (She narrates more slowly in one other work I've heard.) Highly recommended all the same.

Both historical and contemporary analysis

This book is a continuation of her study of autocracy and her warnings that too few people have paid attention to.