Sergei Guriev | Spin dictators

Writer and economics professor Sergei Guriev, an expert on Russia, shares his thoughts on a new breed of dictators. Guriev was rector of the prestigious New Economic School in Moscow from 2004 to 2013 before he fled to Paris after politically motivated interrogations. He addresses pressing questions about the ongoing war in Ukraine – a war that has not only brought material devastation and human tragedy to Ukrainians but has also come at huge economic cost. Why did Putin start this war? Doesn’t the economy matter to him? What is the role of lies and fear in Putin’s strategy?

Hitler, Stalin, and Mao ruled through violence, fear, and ideology. But in recent decades a new breed of media-savvy strongmen has been redesigning authoritarian rule for a more sophisticated, globally connected world. In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Viktor Orbán control their citizens by distorting information and simulating democratic procedures. Like spin doctors in democracies, they spin the news to engineer support. Uncovering this new brand of authoritarianism, Sergei Guriev and co-author Daniel Treisman explain the rise of such “spin dictators” in their latest book, describing how they emerge and operate, the new threats they pose, and how democracies should respond.

Where does Putin rank in this taxonomy? For Guriev, one thing is clear: Putin has miscalculated the war in Ukraine. His narrative has become increasingly hard to spin, and that is why he has changed his strategy: “Putin’s regime has completed its reversion from a 21st century spin dictatorship to a 20th century dictatorship based on fear.”

https://www.ubscenter.uzh.ch/en/news_...

00:00:00 - 00:04:12 Intro Joachim Voth
00:04:12 - 00:44:00 Keynote Sergei Guriev
00:44:00 - 01:11:53 Q&A

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