Autokracie, s.r.o.d - Diktátoři, kteří chtějí řídit svět – Applebaumová Anne (2025)

Modern autocracies – regimes operating on the principle of international kleptocracy – are among the prominent phenomena of the 21st century. Today's autocratic states do not form a common organizational structure, and their relationships are no longer based on shared ideology as they were in the past. Their leaders are solely focused on a ruthless and determined effort to maintain their personal wealth and power. They are convinced of their inviolability, indifferent to international criticism, and often use overt violence to enforce their interests. Modern autocracies closely cooperate, assist each other, and protect one another when necessary. Many of them obtain financial resources through illegal trades. A common feature is their uncompromising effort to strip their own citizens of any influence on the functioning of the state, suppress any transparency, and persecute anyone who stands against them. They spread not only their own propaganda on social networks and other media but also a large amount of fake news, through which they attempt to influence public opinion in democratic countries. Anne Applebaum, a renowned historian and journalist, has called this network of regimes Autocracy, Ltd. In her book, she describes...