A review by robertrivasplata
Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! by Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.0

A sort of Prince for the 21st Century, with a Machiavelli figure who is kind of a combination of Dante's Virgil & the Rolling Stones' Devil as guide. Kind of an updated & all-encompassing companion piece to Umberto Eco's “Ur-Fascism” essay. Lays out the history and variety of authoritarianism, showing that like fascism, authoritarianism is less a set ideology than an outcome. The discussion of white supremacism in America is kind of presented as an outlier in that there is not revolving around a central figure. I feel like it missed an opportunity to show the ways that the white power extremists are enforcers waiting for a strongman. Explores the phenomenon of sympathetic American & European “useful idiot” journalists burnishing the reputations of their favorite dictators, dynasts, & authoritarians. I wish that there had been more about how & where these dictators hide the wealth they plunder from their countries. The art by Babis compliments the humorous tone.