Journalist Anne Applebaum Discusses Autocracy in 2025 Coxford Lecture

^{Anne Applebaum delivered her lecture on the rise of autocracies and their impact on democracy during the second annual Coxford Lecture at Victoria University on Feb. 5, 2025. (Photo by Will Dang)}

By Leslie Shepherd

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Anne Applebaum delivered the second annual Coxford Lecture at Victoria University on Feb. 5, where she explored the global rise of autocratic regimes and their co-ordinated efforts to undermine democratic institutions.

Applebaum presented a chilling analysis of the modern autocratic alliance, or what she called "Autocracy Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World," a loose network of regimes connected by transactional relationships rather than shared ideologies.

"These leaders share a loathing for transparency, accountability, and independent institutions," said Applebaum, a staff writer for The Atlantic, a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

She underscored the sophistication of today’s autocratic systems, highlighting how their networks leverage global finance, surveillance technology, and propaganda to sustain power and challenge democracies.

Democratic nations have enabled these regimes, she said.

"The shadow world of secretive finance—created and supported by Western institutions—has empowered autocrats," she said, recommending stricter regulation of offshore accounts, shell companies, and tax havens.

The Coxford Lecture was made possible by a gift from alumnus Stephen Coxford (Vic 7T4). The annual event is a vital part of our commitment to fostering public dialogue on the defining issues of our times, Victoria University President Dr. Rhonda McEwen said in her opening remarks.

Applebaum discussed the evolving tactics of autocracies, which have moved beyond overt military aggression to more subtle, insidious forms of influence. She warned that contemporary autocracy won't resemble our well-worn caricatures.

"The era of tanks in the streets is over," she said. “Democracy now ends in courtrooms or through disinformation campaigns that destabilize societies from within."

She warned that many democratic systems are unprepared to confront the challenges posed by modern autocratic regimes, particularly as these regimes manipulate institutions like the judiciary, suppress opposition and use technology to surveil and control their populations.

During the Q&A session, Dr. Joseph Wong, a political science professor and vice president, international, at the University of Toronto, asked: “Where is the resistance? Where are the global movements for democracy that we’ve seen in the past, like the Arab Spring or the colour revolutions?”

Applebaum used the opportunity to reflect on the first weeks of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, which she described as being a precarious moment for democracy. She noted that recent events in Washington represent “a kind of administrative coup” in which civil servants and institutions are being undermined or replaced with political loyalists.

“We are seeing an assault on the rule of law, a replacement of merit-based civil service with cronies, and the undermining of checks and balances,” Applebaum said. She described a concerning trend where courts and Congress appear hesitant to push back against executive overreach, and secrecy is replacing transparency.

“Autocrats thrive on secrecy,” she said. “When laws are rewritten in secret, when civil servants are replaced with loyalists, and when public opinion can no longer constrain leaders, democracies crumble from within.”

Applebaum said that one of the first things autocratic systems try to do is fragment the opposition.

"It’s not an accident that the Russian opposition is divided, or that the Iranian opposition can’t even gather in the same room,” she said. “These regimes are designed to sow discord among those who resist them.”

She also pointed out that opposition movements often need time to understand the shifting “rules of the game” under autocratic regimes. 

“Despite all the warnings, I think people are still unprepared for what happens when the norms of governance are suddenly rewritten. It takes time for the opposition to realize that the old ways of pushing back—through elections, debates, or traditional activism—might no longer be effective.”

Applebaum closed her lecture by urging democratic nations to form coalitions to counter autocracy and protect democratic values.

"If the leaders of the autocratic world are able to work together to co-operate with one another, if they can help one another suppress internal opposition, teach one another how to use surveillance technology, then why can't we also work together to push back against them?” she said.
 
“It's really the responsibility of all of us as citizens to participate in our democracies, to work as citizens, to work for and with political parties and political leaders, to make sure that the ideas that have kept all of us prosperous and free for such a long time continue to survive.”