Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Affairs

The Autocrat's Achilles' Heel

    Author:
  • Alina Polyakova
| Feb. 02, 2018

Could Putin and Xi Undermine Their Own Rule?

Great power competition is back. Russia and China—two great powers with autocrats at their helms—are actively testing the durability of the international order as the West seemingly retreats. Russian President Vladimir Putin, unfazed by Western sanctions, not only led a disinformation campaign in Western democracies to disrupt major elections, but continues to maintain Russia’s occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, is projecting China’s military power into the South China Sea and its economic might across Latin America, Africa, and Asia....

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Polyakova, Alina.“The Autocrat's Achilles' Heel.” Foreign Affairs, February 2, 2018.

The Author

Alina Polyakova

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