Dictating the Agenda

Dictating the Agenda examines how contemporary authoritarian regimes are undermining the global influence of Western democratic liberal ideas and advocacy. They achieve this by projecting their agendas into global arenas often considered "non-political," such as consumer boycotts, global media, transnational higher education, and international sports. While globalization-marked by economic exchange, technological innovation, and consumerism-was once believed to inevitably spread US-style liberalism worldwide, the past decade has proven otherwise. Authoritarian governments in Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia are now exploiting these very tools to discredit liberal activism, diminish the significance of liberal values in global governance, and advance their autocratic ideologies and agendas.

Alexander Cooley is the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science and Vice Provost for Research and Academic Centers at Barnard College, Columbia University. From 2015-21 he served as the 15th Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute for the Study of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe. Professor Cooley's research examines how international actors have influenced the governance, sovereignty, and security of the post-Communist states. In addition to his academic publications, Professor Cooley's commentaries have appeared in Foreign Affairs, New York Times, and Washington Post and he has testified for the US Congress, UK Parliament and the Parliament of Canada.
Alexander Dukalskis is associate professor in the School of Politics & International Relations at University College Dublin. His research and teaching interests include authoritarian politics, human rights, and Asian politics. He is also a frequent expert commentator in national and international media on these
themes. From 2022-2024 he directed UCD's Centre for Asia-Pacific Research. He is the author of two books, Making the World Safe for Dictatorship (Oxford University Press, 2021) and The Authoritarian Public Sphere (Routledge, 2017), and academic articles in several leading journals.

- Chapter 1: Introduction: Dictating the Agenda
- Chapter 2: The 1990s Origins and the Acceleration of Transnational Liberal Influence
- Chapter 3: The Waning of Transnational Liberal Influence in the 2020s
- Chapter 4: Authoritarian Backfire Explained
- Chapter 5: Reconfiguring Media Influence
- Chapter 6: Repurposing Global Consumer Boycotts
- Chapter 7: Harnessing Global Higher Education
- Chapter 8: Rewriting the Playbook: Global Sports
- Chapter 9: Conclusion
- Appendices