Scaling Authoritarian Influence

Russia, Cuba and the dynamics of autocratic coooperation in Latin America.

Reseña

In the post–Cold War world, amidst various challenges and crises affecting the liberal order, autocratic cooperation has expanded through the diffusion and promotion of authoritarian ideas, institutions, norms, and practices. Within this process, the geopolitical role of so-called Authoritarian Gravity Centers (AGCs) is essential. In Latin America, Cuba and Russia have, for several decades—both separately and jointly—developed an effective and sustained process of forging links for the promotion and dissemination of authoritarianism, engaging a wide range of ideologically and politically aligned governmental and societal actors across the region. We show that Cuba and Russia act as AGCs in their neighborhood and, in certain domains, deploy transregional strategies consistent with the profile of Authoritarian Global Promoters (AGPs).