This article reviews Anne Applebaum‘s book “Autocracy, Inc.” and provides an overview of its main arguments. Here are the key points:
**Main Themes:**
1. Autocracies have extended their influence across different spheres (political, economic, military, and informational) and exploit loopholes in democratic countries‘ financial systems.
2. Autocracies infiltrate information spaces within democratic societies to sow seeds of doubt and discord.
3. Democratic countries are not immune to the spread of disinformation and propaganda from autocratic regimes.
**Examples:**
1. The book mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where Russian officials alleged that the US funded laboratories in Ukraine for biological warfare experiments. Although these claims were debunked, they proliferated on social media and Chinese state media.
2. Applebaum highlights China‘s interest in muddying recent history to relieve itself of scrutiny over its own hazardous biolabs, including the one in Wuhan that might have been the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.
**Solutions:**
1. Applebaum advocates for coalitions of countries to work together to eliminate loopholes in financial systems and undermine autocratic information warfare.
2. She proposes ensuring the information system functions under strong laws and regulations, similar to the financial system.
3. Applebaum warns against relying too heavily on trade with autocratic countries like Russia and China, calling it an “existential” threat.
**Conclusion:**
The article concludes that Applebaum’s book is a grim but necessary warning about the dangers of global autocracy and the need for democratic countries to work together to counter its rise.