Anne Applebaum hopes liberalism and democracy are sustainable but is uncertain of their fate.

“Nobody’s democracy is safe,” she writes.

Still, “there are liberal societies, open and free countries that offer a better chance for people to live useful lives than closed dictatorships do.”

For autocrats, liberty and autonomy are inconveniences.
#Conformity is king.

There is little surprise that Putin portrays himself as the defender of faith and traditional values.

American democrats
– as well as Democrats
– have reason to be concerned.

During the 2016 election, Paul #LePage, then governor of Maine, thought Trump needed to show some “authoritarian power”.

A lot has happened since then. Come November, LePage just may get his wish.

-- "Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World" is published in the US by Penguin Random House

#Schröder #launder #stolen #wealth #United #Arab #Emirates #Turkey #Brexit #Lord #Lebedev #Farage #Russian #China #Iran #North #Korea #Brics #Kasowitz #Putin #Xi #gas #pipeline

Applebaum turns her gaze to Gerhard #Schröder, German chancellor between 1998 and 2005.

Since then, he has worked for Nord Stream, Rosneft and Gazprom
– all Russian.

Now 80, he has chaired the shareholder committee of Nord Stream,
reportedly earning around $270,000 a year.

He also led the supervisory board of Nord Stream 2, now shuttered.

He is unapologetic.
In February 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, he told the New York Times:

“I don’t do mea culpa, it’s not my thing.”

Applebaum also discusses so-called “hybrid states”,
which she characterizes as countries that are a
“legitimate part of the international financial system” and possess many of the trappings of democracy
but that are “also willing to #launder or accept criminal or #stolen #wealth or to assist people and companies that have been sanctioned”.

She points to the #United #Arab #Emirates and #Turkey.

“Russian property purchases in the Emirates rose 100% after the invasion of Ukraine,” she writes.

Not surprisingly, Applebaum lauds patriotism but fears nationalism and isolationism.

By such metrics, #Brexit was a bust.

“Did the removal of Britain from the European Union give the British more power to shape the world?” Applebaum asks.

The answer is self-evident.

“Did it prevent foreign money from shaping UK politics?”

Want a hint? Evgeny Lebedev, son of Alexander Lebedev, a Russian oligarch and ex-KGB agent, is now #Lord #Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia, neatly ensconced in parliament.

“Did it stop refugees from moving from the war zones of the Middle East to Britain?
It did not.”

Nigel #Farage’s dream has left the UK worse for wear. Farage’s admiration for Putin is a feature, not a bug.

“I said I disliked him as a person,” Farage recently said of the Russian president,
while campaigning for election as an MP.

“But I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.”

#Russian #China #Iran #North #Korea #Brics #Kasowitz #Putin #Xi #gas #pipeline