Alexander Cooley

As always, good thread from @profsaunders.bsky.social. @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social talk about how Trump admin hollowed out these processes, why it did so, and what some of the costs are in our recent @foreignaffairs.com article.

Spoiler: a combo of far-right ideology and self-dealing.

What an engaging interview- Mark brings out the best in his speakers and engages with the nuances and uncomfortable implications of their arguments.

Many thanks to Alireza Nouri for taking the time to speak with us and to @onglynette.bsky.social for facilitating.

@cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and I enjoyed the conversation!

The Age of Kleptocracy Geopolitical power, private gain.

@cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and @dhnexon.bsky.social argue that the Trump administration’s foreign policy is “fundamentally kleptocratic.”

For the definitive account of how “the West” was employed to legitimate American security guarantees to Europe, see @profptj.bsky.social’s book, Civilizing the Enemy. But you can read an earlier, article-length treatment (specifically about NATO) here: www.kittenboo.com/blog/wp-cont...

Cover of the March/April 2026 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, titled "The New American Hegemony"

The Table of Contents of the issue, with the second article, "The Age of Kleptocracy: Geopolitical Power, Private Gain" by Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon, with a red box drawn around it.

Look what came in the mail yesterday 👇

YouTube video by Watson School of International and Public Affairs Alexander Cooley — Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Check out my co-author @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social presenting our book Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics at @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social

Undermining American Hegemony Cambridge Core - Political Economy - Undermining American Hegemony

So if the major dynamic of "multipolar orders" is — as @skumsrud.bsky.social, @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social, and I argue (with contributors) — a game structured by the politics of "goods substitution," than Trump 2.0 is playing a losing strategy.

Thrilling & flattering to have leading scholars Aurel Croissant, Julia Bader, John J. Chin, Jessica C. Teets & Emilie M. Hafner-Burton read & comment on Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social for @nbr.org

See the roundtable here:

Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order - Kindle edition by Cooley, Alexander, Nexon, Daniel. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order.

🧵 If you want to understand how Trump is committing geopolitical suicide, you might check out EXIST FROM HEGEMONY, Oxford University Press 2020 — in which, I am regularly told, @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and I got "everything right" 👇.

🚨 Bonus: Kindle Edition is currently $9.99 on Amazon! 🚨

Transnational Kleptocracy and American Authoritarian Consolidation - Lawyers, Guns & Money Last week, Netflix reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming business. Some right-wing influencers were livid, because Netflix produces a fair amount of LGBTQ-friendly c...

I had *planned* on writing a post today about the ongoing sane-washing of the U.S. National Security Strategy, but I decided instead to put up a more detailed version of my skeets about the entanglement of Trump corruption, overseas autocratic wealth, and U.S. media consolidation.

Check out this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social discussion in which @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and I talk about our new book

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics.

newbooksnetwork.com/dictating-th...

🧵 Obligatory self-promotion.

@cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social devote a chapter to the transnational far-right in Exit from Hegemony. We contextualize it within broader dynamics of int'l power transitions, hegemonic decline, and transformation in international order. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Trump’s Antiliberal Order How America first undercuts America’s advantage.

NB: as @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and I argued back in January, if you're a "China hawk" and you think Russia is a more important ally than Europe, then you've got the geopolitical acumen of a candy wrapper.

UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities

Confirmation of key thesis in @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social
and @alexdukalskis.bsky.social's book "Dictating the Agenda:" channels for global cultural and market liberal influence now being weaponized by authoritarian states against liberal society institutions www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Many thanks to @moisesnaim.bsky.social for this thoughtful review of Dictating the Agenda by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social

“This is an excellent book…. one of the most penetrating and original accounts yet of how authoritarian regimes are reshaping the global order.”

Annual Lecture: Dictating the Agenda – How Authoritarians are Transforming Global Governance | NUPI Based on their new book "Dictating the Agenda", Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis reveal the important authoritarian changes underway across various global governance domains.

Looking forward to giving along w/ @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social the @nupinytt.bsky.social & Norwegian Centre for Geopolitics annual lecture in Oslo Wednesday.

“Dictating the Agenda – How Authoritarians are Transforming Global Governance”

Details & live stream:

Authoritarian states have powerful reach — even in Ireland The return to authoritarianism worldwide — not least in the US — will have ramifications for internationally-linked universities and corporations here, write Alexander Dukalskis and Alexander Cooley

In the @irishexaminer.bsky.social today @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social I map out the global authoritarian resurgence and what it means for Ireland

🧵 Fascism is an ideology. The government is fascist. But it's an unconsolidated competitive authoritarian regime, not a totalitarian one.

@justinscasey.bsky.social and I discuss this, and the heterogeneity of interwar fascism, here 👇

If you're in Dublin next week come join me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social at the Institute of International & European Affairs (IIEA) on Thursday where we'll talk about our new book Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Details: www.iiea.com/images/uploa...

Podcast: Rising authoritarianism, Kneecap and Eurovision An expert in international relations has told RTÉ's Behind the Story podcast it is "extremely alarming" that Donald Trump has the full force of the US government behind him for another three years.

And here’s a write-up:

We are all students of democracy. Grateful for the exchange with students during my keynote and Q&A on The Age of Democratic Security.

Thank you to @columbiauniversity.bsky.social World Leaders Forum, Acting President Claire Shipman, & Prof. @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social.

Author copies for

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social arrived today!

If you re-post this by Sept 30 we'll put you in a drawing & send the winner a free signed copy anywhere they happen to be on the planet.

An excerpt from our 2022 article. It reads: "U.S. officials who sincerely wish to defend the liberal order will need to choose sides, both domestically and in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. In doing so, they will blur the distinction between liberal and illiberal practices. They will need to break domestic norms, such as not modifying the size and jurisdiction of the federal judiciary because of its ideological disposition. They will also need to back away from post–Cold War norms, such as limiting favoritism toward political factions in and among major democratic allies. And they will need to do so with the clear understanding that these actions could backfire and provide rhetorical cover for illiberal and antidemocratic practices at home and abroad."

The second excerpt reads: "Grappling with domestic illiberal threats remains a thorny exercise. Of course, the defense of liberal democracy has produced terrible excesses in the past, including ugly repression and horrific violence. U.S. officials adopted decidedly illiberal policies during the Red Scare that followed World War I, when the specter of Bolshevism loomed large. In trying to stem the rising right-wing extremist tide today, the United States risks returning to those dark times. But the alternative of inaction-Western liberalism's failure to beat back fascism in the 1930s—remains a dangerous prospect. History is an imperfect guide. Fascism was defeated — at least for a time—on the battlefields of World War II. Had Hitler been less interested in military conquest, fascist states might be a perfectly normal part of the current global landscape. The Soviet Union, for its part, collapsed because of a combination of the inefficiencies of its command economy, nationalist pressures, and policy choices that turned out very poorly."

The final excerpt reads: "The United States cannot really contemplate defeating its current authoritarian challengers in a total war, as that would likely produce a catastrophic nuclear exchange. Its most important authoritarian challenger, China, is a totally different kind of polity than the Soviet Union was. China is wealthy and relatively dynamic, and although it has its share of structural problems, it is not abundantly clear that it hortcomings are any worse than those of the United States. In short, neither of the historical routes to the ideological victory of liberalism seems likely. This means that liberal democracies really do need to assume that they will not retake the catbird seat of the international order anytime soon. And so the question becomes not whether the liberal order will change but on whose terms."

And I talk about it towards then of @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and my essay on the crisis of liberal order. (sorry, I know I've posted this stuff before).

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics - Audiobook - alexander cooley, Alexander Dukalskis - ISBN 9798318530715 - Storytel International Following the end of the Cold War, the world experienced a remarkable wave of democratization. Over the next two decades, numerous authoritarian regimes

If you prefer to listen to your books, the audio book version of Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social was released today.

Get it wherever you get your audio books - Audible, Amazon, Apple, Storytel, your library, etc.

The US and Europe Unite with Ukraine—What Comes Next? What do Putin and Trump have in common? Both turn grievance into power, and our guests explain how.

Was great for me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social to talk with @leslievinjamuri.bsky.social on the the Chicago Council on Global Affairs @global-affairs.bsky.social podcast about Ukraine & our new book Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics.

Have a listen here:

Princeton University Press Stumbles Into a Xinjiang Tour Debacle The Soviet-style “Potemkin tour” is alive and well in today’s China – as PUP found out when several of its staff took a controversial trip to Xinjiang.

Princeton University Press Stumbles Into a Xinjiang Tour Debacle
thediplomat.com/2025/07/prin...

Autoritäre Staaten: "Dann würde die liberale Ordnung schlicht zerbrechen" Was, wenn das autoritäre Zeitalter längst begonnen hat? Zwei Politologen im Gespräch über die dramatische Lage – und die vielleicht letzte Chance für die Demokratie.

Was great for me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social to talk with @zeit.de about our new book and the resurgence of authoritarianism in global politics.

New 5 Questions piece on the Illiberal Regimes and Global Governance project page! On the super interesting new book by @alexdukalskis.bsky.social & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social
ucigcc.org/research/fut... @ucigcc.bsky.social