The Autocrat’s Achilles' Heel
As the United States weighs its approach to this new era of great power politics, U.S. policymakers will need to take into account how the internal domestic tensions inherent to personalist systems will affect Putin and Xi’s foreign policy agendas.
Dr Alina Polyakova
171d ago
A year ago, I wrote about the cracks in Russia and China. Amidst all the talk of the new “illiberal alliance,” a good time to remember they are not ten feet tall: The Autocrat’s Achilles' Heel @torrey_taussig
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Russia and China—two great powers with autocrats at their helms—are actively testing the durability of the international order.
There seem to be no effective checks to Putin and Xi’s growing ambitions. Both leaders, however, could be making a strategic error.
Both Putin and Xi could be making a strategic error. They are staking their countries' futures, and international trajectories, on one thing: themselves.
Putin and Xi face similar dilemmas as long-time autocrats of large countries: managing brutal elite competition for loyalty and succession, and balancing international ambitions with deepening tensions between the central government and restive regions.
“The Autocrat’s Achilles' Heel “ A terrific piece in @ForeignAffairs by @apolyakova and @torrey_taussig