Dictating the Agenda

Dictating the Agenda examines how authoritarian states transformed from defensive actors into proactive shapers of international institutions and discourse.

Cooley and Dukalskis trace stages—stigmatize, shield, reframe, project, and dictate—showing how states like China and Russia export norms, use market leverage, and build institutions to normalize authoritarian practices.

The authors draw on examples from media, education, sports, and transnational NGOs to reveal mechanisms of influence and learning among autocracies.

They argue this authoritarian resurgence interacts with domestic populist trends in democracies, producing a more contested global order.

The book offers both empirical case studies and a framework for understanding how authoritarian power has increased and become offensive on the world stage.