Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Cooley and Dukalskis — whose previous collaboration, Exporting Authoritarianism, established the concept of authoritarian norm diffusion — here develop the argument further to examine how authoritarian states are not merely resisting liberal international norms but actively contesting and attempting to replace them. The book traces how Russia, China, and allied regimes have worked through multilateral institutions, bilateral relationships, and information channels to advance alternative normative frameworks for sovereignty, democracy, and human rights.

The information environment dimension is central to the analysis. Authoritarian norm contestation depends heavily on narrative competition — the systematic promotion of alternative framings of international events, democratic backsliding, and human rights violations. For analysts working on foreign information manipulation, this book provides the strategic context within which specific influence operations make sense as part of a coherent, long-term project.