THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 79 asked, via purchases of property, banks, and other assets. As Applebaum ruefully observes, “The globalization of finance, the plethora of hiding places, and the benign tolerance that democracies have shown for foreign graft now give autocrats opportunities that few could have imagined a couple of decades ago.” The next chapter, “Kleptocracy Metastasizes,” offers case studies from Venezuela and Zimbabwe to demonstrate how autocracies band together to help countries hit by Western sanctions to withstand those fiscal pressures. While it’s a fair bet that nearly all FSJ readers are already familiar with those situations, it is still helpful to see them spelled out so clearly. The same is true of chapter 3, “Controlling the Narrative,” which reminds readers how effective “illiberal democracy” (an oxymoron if ever there were one) can be at consolidating power and undercutting international opponents. That brings us to “Changing the Operating System,” which documents how Moscow and Beijing collaborate with other members of the autocrats’ club to sabotage and destroy faith in the democratic system and the rule of law. My one quibble with Applebaum here is her claim that so many regimes are operating in lockstep to achieve that goal. That degree of coordination feels overstated, particularly in regard to the Middle East. But there is no denying that it goes on—and is effective. Her final chapter, “Smearing the Democrats,” explains how autocrats use trolls (professional and volunteer) to harass, intimidate, and drive brave dissidents into exile. As she ruefully notes, our own country is no stranger to such tactics. It’s unclear why Applebaum relegated her one faintly hopeful chapter, “Democrats United,” to an epilogue. Perhaps it is a signal that she has little faith in the will of the West to fight back against Autocracy, Inc.? If so, let us hope she is overly pessimistic. n Steven Alan Honley, a State Department Foreign Service officer from 1985 to 1997, went on to serve as editor in chief of The Foreign Service Journal from 2001 to 2014. He is the author of Future Forward: FSI at 70—A History of the Foreign Service Institute (Arlington Hall Press, 2017). The book documents how Moscow and Beijing collaborate with other members of the autocrats’ club to sabotage and destroy faith in the democratic system.
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