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The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy Hardcover – June 5, 2012

by William J. Dobson (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 79 ratings
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In this riveting portrait of authoritarianism in peril, acclaimed journalist William Dobson takes us inside the relentless battle between dictators and the people challenging their rule.

We are witnessing an incredible moment in the war between dictators and democracy—waves of protests are sweeping Syria and Yemen, and despots have fallen in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. But the Arab Spring is only the latest front in a worldwide battle between freedom and repression, a battle that also rages in a dozen other countries from Venezuela to China, Russia to Malaysia. It is a struggle that, until recently, dictators have been winning hands-down. The reason is that today’s authoritarian regimes are nothing like the frozen-in-time government of North Korea. They are ever-morphing, technologically savvy, and internationally connected, and they have replaced more brutal forms of intimidation with seemingly “free” elections and talk of human rights. Facing off against modern dictators is an unlikely army of democracy advocates—students, bloggers, environmentalists, lawyers, activists, and millionaires—who are growing increasingly savvy themselves. The result is a global game of cat-and-mouse, where the future of freedom hangs in the balance. Dobson takes us behind the scenes in both camps, and reveals how each side is honing its strategies for the war that will define our age.
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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Doubleday
  4. Publication date
    June 5, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    6.51 x 1.23 x 9.51 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0385533357
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0385533355
  8. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
79 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book well-written, interesting, and enjoyable. They appreciate the depth of analysis and clear-eyed recitation of facts. Readers describe the pacing as brilliant, clear, and compelling.

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10 customers mention "Readability"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written, interesting, and informative. They also say it's enjoyable.

"...But it is certainly well-written, comprehensive and important...." Read more

"...The positives: This book is definitely a worthwhile read...." Read more

"...had to push myself through some parts but for the most part the book is interesting and informative" Read more

"I found the book to be well-researched and readable...." Read more

9 customers mention "Information quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thoroughly researched, informative, and insightful. They appreciate the clear-eyed recitation of facts on the ground. Readers also say it's comprehensive and important.

"...But it is certainly well-written, comprehensive and important...." Read more

""The Dictator's Learning Curve" is a thoroughly researched book that dissects modern day dictators and repressive states...." Read more

"...some parts but for the most part the book is interesting and informative" Read more

"...For me, it provided a distinctly different point of view and depth of analysis. Bravo!" Read more

7 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive2 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book brilliant, clear, and compelling. They appreciate the author's way of setting the scene and putting the reader on-site. Readers also mention the book outlines the process perfectly.

"...I especially like his way of setting the scene and putting the reader on-site...." Read more

"The Dictator's Learning Curve provides an incisive, clear and compelling look at the role of political strongmen in the international arena...." Read more

"...The negatives: This book is all over the place, jumping from descriptions of struggling freedom activists in Venezuela to Egypt to China in a single..." Read more

"...The book leaves the reader with tremendous admiration for the courage of the activisits who continue to defy the most sophisticated oppressive..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Monique Sue
5.0 out of 5 stars As it is new to my library, I haven't ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2014
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As it is new to my library, I haven't read it yet, only scanned it. But it is certainly well-written, comprehensive and important. It's important to always pay attention to politics as that is what determines what our societies are or will be.
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Dr. Nancy L. Nicholson
4.0 out of 5 stars A useful update on the life and times of dictators
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013
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I would have given this book five stars if it had more historical context. Even if readers prefer its 20th century discussions, the concept of tyrant and dictator have Greek (as in Xenophon's "Tyrannicus") and Roman historical connections that could have been placed in an appendix section.

I also would like to read the author's explicit definitions of "totalitarianism" and "authority." Rather than expand this review with quotations from Arendt's "Origins of Totalitarianism," Max Weber's "Theory of Social and Economic Organization" and Georg Simmel's "Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies," I suggest that these readings enrich understanding of the last three centuries of regimes considered free, dictatorial or authoritarian.

Readers could work out for themselves whether or not Dobson's assertion that totalitarian regimes are a 20th century phenomenon. Arendt points out a specific structural relation among totalitarian regimes that she ties to failures of democratic institutions. Weber understands the role of charisma in emotional attachment to a Leader (Lenin, Evita, Hitler and more) that becomes routinized by subsequent generations. Simmel understands the nature of cloaking actual relations in a regime that underlie its public facade.

What I like about this book is that it helps refresh memories of 20th century events and stands ready to assist 21st century readers with a review of political economies of "authoritarian" regimes. Learning curves of control-driven personalities with a shaky grasp on ethics are important to document. And extant "democracies" still have the flaws described by Machiavelli in his three good forms of government that produce three bad forms of government. Broadly, it is the same flaw: failure to govern. Princes become tyrants in very few generations, aristocrats forget obligation (Weber again) to become oligarchs and deme-ocracies descend into licentiousness by voting themselves "bread and circuses."

There is another technical issue I will raise related to non linear developmental tracks in a history of governance: the hope that a group of leaders will be "safer" in terms of political voice than a single person. Plato's "Republic" raises but does not solve "the problem of the guardians." Rather, it suggests that guardians of a state are like "noble dogs" who are given training to know friend or enemy. By the time of the American revolution, a unique design for guardians was developed in the US Constitution's separation of powers. This was and is, an "unstable hierarchy" with specific rules of interaction, similar to that of "scissors-paper-rock." Compromise in this circular set of relations allows each participant some things desired, but requires skill at negotiating peacefully. Or it might result in the American habit of "disjointed incrementalism" or muddling through (William Ophuls "The Politics of Scarcity"). A five part unstable hierarchy can be found in the rules for "scissors-paper-rock-lizard-Spock" (for example, Spock refutes paper, lizard poisons Spock). Unstable hierarchies are tricky, because they demand constant attention to detail (small picture) related to the actual effort of governing (intermediate to large picture). In this century, there are a number of states that have triple authority entities. Number of actors is not salvation, but adherence to clearly balanced rules is a road to survival with reasonable freedoms. I will leave it to readers to figure out which multiple entities are in the Middle and the Far East. Are the guardians of the state armed? What about President Eisenhower's warning concerning military-industrial complexes? And how many Americans have read all of the Federalist Papers? Does the current mode of war fighting a diffuse enemy rather than conventional war for territory (see Admiral McRaven's book "Spec Ops") pose problems connected with secret "black operations" for democracies that could be exploited by dictators? What is jointly learned about "crowd control technologies" (see Dobson's Chapter 8) by interacting authorities and demonstrators?

If this "Dictator's Learning Curve" is to find its place in a history of dangerous trends of controlling populations under the rubric of a "state," then it needs some more explicit connections to human efforts to safely provide food and shelter with political voice for their populations. The potential is there in its eight case studies. Maintaining democratic rule is always labile and demands diligence from its deme.

Finally, Chuang Tzu (Zuangzi) of more than two milennia ago points out in his tale of "Binding Trunks" how Robber Wu can steal a trunk (analog of a state) if its bindings are sufficiently strong.
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X-Diplo
5.0 out of 5 stars An inside look at the war between authoritarian regimes and pro-democracy dissidents
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2013
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Dictatorships these days are trying to project a kinder, gentler image and preserve at least the appearance of democratic institutions and the rule of law, while preserving the authority of the regime. Dissidents are less likely to be killed or imprisoned for long terms than under, say, Stalin; most of today's authoritarians (North Korea and Iran aside) prefer harassment and FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) to the brutal methods of their predecessors. Facebook can be as much a battleground as the streets outside the presidential palace. Dobson does a superb job of illuminating this shadow war with face-to-face interviews from the front lines. I especially like his way of setting the scene and putting the reader on-site. You can see the walls of a Venezuelan women's prison and feel the restricted life of a former judge, imprisoned by the Chavez regime for freeing an illegally imprisoned businessman.

Dobson illustrates the struggle for democratic reform in China, Russia, Egypt, Venezuela, and Malaysia. In each place he focuses on a few reformers and their relationship to the government - how the democracy activists manage to convoke protests that are not protests (a stroll in Beijing, for instance) and make the government look ridiculous (inducing them to arrest stuffed toys in Russia). Activists embarrass authoritarian regimes by forcing them to act against their own written laws. In turn, the governments intimidate would-be protesters with trumped-up criminal charges, street violence, computer spying, and a whole range of other tactics. Dobson's intimate, one-on-one interviews with pro-democracy leaders give his writing a liveliness that is absent in much that is written about the struggle for democracy.

Dobson has many insights beyond what is in the daily press. The Arab Spring was much more planned and organized than it appeared to be, and there was an Internet-connected network of activists across the region sharing ideas and plans. What worked in one place was instantly shared with the others. A team of young Serbian activists, veterans of their own struggle against Milosevic, trains and advises pro-democracy groups around the world.

I used this book for a class reading in a foreign policy seminar I teach. It was a last-minute choice when a couple of other books I was considering didn't pan out, and a throw of the dice because I hadn't read it. The dice came up sevens - the class, an intelligent and thoughtful group, loved it.
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Charley5
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed but Worthwhile
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2013
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I have mixed feelings regarding this book. The negatives: This book is all over the place, jumping from descriptions of struggling freedom activists in Venezuela to Egypt to China in a single chapter. This disjointedness somewhat harms the flow of the book. It is not a critical issue, but more a question of style. The other negative is that the writing style is a bit casual. The author is after all a journalist not an academic, but I am used to reading historical analyses done by academics and their style is more formal yet authoritative. Again, this is not a critical flaw.

The positives: This book is definitely a worthwhile read. It lets us know about the courage and fortitude of people fighting for democracy in brutal and vicious regimes. I take my hat off to these people. They are heroes in every sense of the word, and I want to express my appreciation to the author for bringing their existence to my attention. In that sense, I recommend this book wholeheartedly!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jason A. Schuyler
5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2018
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This was a fantastic book - extraordinarily interesting.
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New Business
3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2012
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An interesting account of covert political organizations throughout the world and their work against long-standing political regimes which ruthlessly hang on to power.
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E. Meier
3.0 out of 5 stars Nicht uninteressant
Reviewed in Germany on January 3, 2013
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Spannend geschrieben und mit vielen interessanten Details, aber zu wenig reflektierend und selbstkritisch. Es handelt sich irgendwie auch um ziemlich naive US-Propaganda. Der Autor glaubt in der Überwachung ein Kriterium für Diktatur gefunden zu haben. Das ist ziemlich ironisch, wenn man an die USA im Zeichen des Patriot Act denkt. Im Übrigen ist es überhaupt nicht neu, dass sich Diktaturen ein demokratisches Mäntelchen umhängen. Man denke an die kommunistischen Staaten, die alle ein vorgebliches Mehrparteiensystem hatten. Auch ein gewisses Maß an Reisefreiheit als Ventil ist nicht neu.
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