American author and journalist Will Dobson examines how modern dictatorships are constantly evolving. He explains that while it has become more difficult to maintain an authoritarian regime in today’s world, dictatorships have done so by becoming more sophisticated and savvy. Brutal repression has been largely replaced with subtle coercion. But at the same time, the individuals challenging dictatorships have also evolved, and while popular movements may seem like spontaneous, romantic uprisings, they are in reality strategic and organized. Ultimately dictators cannot learn or adapt as quickly as the civil society that opposes them.
