If 2024 – with over half of the world’s population voting – was the year of democracy

If 2024 – with over half of the world’s population voting – was the year of democracy, then 2025 threatens to be the year of the tyrant. Flawed and outright rigged elections were seen in numerous parts of the globe this year, while repression and brutality has continued to stifle dissent. Elsewhere, leaders with authoritarian tendencies have gained power. Populations have consequently found themselves hostages to the often destructive whims of dictators and their elites.

In this outstanding book, Dirsus examines the fragility behind the image of invincibility projected by tyrannical leaders, and how their downfalls occur. He examines disfunctions in autocratic systems, the mechanisms by which they collapse, and the grizzly end they typically meet.

This book is essential reading for analysts of autocratic systems, and their interactions with global geopolitics.