Image credit: CNAS

August 26, 2020

Digital Dictators

By Andrea Kendall-Taylor

The rise of digital technology initially ushered in a wave of optimism about the future of democracy. Today, however, a different reality has emerged as authoritarian regimes learned to take advantage of these tools for repressive goals. How does technology empower these regimes? Expert Andrea Kendall-Taylor explains the dangerous ways modern dictatorships have leveraged digital technologies to strengthen their hold on power both online and on the ground.

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Indo-Pacific Security

The Digital Dictators

Rapid technological change will likely produce a cat-and-mouse dynamic as citizens and governments race to gain the upper hand....

Indo-Pacific Security

Why the United States Needs a Digital Development Fund

What the executive branch and Congress can do to counter China’s expanding digital footprint across the developing world....

Indo-Pacific Security

The Autocrat’s New Tool Kit

Chinese authorities are now using the tools of big data to detect departures from “normal” behavior among Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang region—and then to identify each su...

Defense

Rising to the China Challenge

The United States and China are locked in strategic competition over the future of the Indo-Pacific—the most populous, dynamic, and consequential region in the world....

Indo-Pacific Security

Dangerous Synergies

There is growing evidence that Beijing and Moscow are learning from each other and enhancing their coordination, leading to a growing convergence in their digital influence ef...

Transatlantic Security

Combating Populism

The strategies and tactics populist parties and leaders use also provide their own, direct threat to liberal democracy....

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