autocrats

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has published an analysis comparing autocratic and democratic governance across African countries. The piece examines how the two systems perform on accountability, rights and state institutions. It lands amid ongoing debate about democratic backsliding on the continent and renewed discussion of whether authoritarian models deliver stability or repression.

Journalist and author M. Gessen gave a talk titled "Politics of the Past and Politics of the Future," addressing how societies can maintain collective ethics under autocratic governments. The discussion, reported by Haverford College's student newspaper, explored how people navigate moral responsibility and historical memory when democratic institutions are under pressure. Gessen drew on their writing about Russia and the United States to examine how citizens respond to authoritarian politics.

The blog "This Needs Fixin'", which examines systemic problems in society and proposes remedies, is circulating randomly selected older pieces from its archive. Posts highlighted include a 2020 essay on how a democracy would go to war, a piece on what to do when "the autocrat is correct," and a 2026 entry criticizing the site Wonkette as an example of an authoritarian left. So far the shares have drawn only a handful of likes and little discussion.

A new analysis from East Asia Forum argues that China's Belt and Road Initiative has a double-edged effect on authoritarian governments abroad. Chinese investment and infrastructure lending can strengthen autocratic rulers by delivering growth and patronage, but debt burdens and local discontent can also destabilise them, the piece contends, complicating claims that Beijing simply props up fellow authoritarian regimes.