Anne Applebaum on the Authoritarian Playbook and what Democracies can do to push back
Alfred Landecker Memorial Lecture 2026

Each year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Alfred Landecker Foundation commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz with a Memorial Lecture at Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.

In this year's lecture Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Anne Applebaum gave a compelling analysis of the global rise of autocracies. Based on the historical understanding that it is the erosion of democratic institutions which allows extremist powers to rise and to undermine liberal freedoms and minority rights, Applebaum’s intervention touches on the core mission of the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Introduced by Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School, and Lord William Hague of Richmond, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Applebaum’s address offered an alerting account of how modern authoritarian regimes collaborate to undermine democratic systems and how these systems must organize to counter them.

Watch the video recording of the lecture and the Q&A session that followed:

The New Authoritarian Playbook

In her latest book Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, Applebaum argues that, unlike the ideological conflicts of the 20th century, modern autocracy is not a phenomenon of single strong men but a network of kleptocrats These regimes are run by a like-minded group who exploit state resources to enrich themselves.

Their goal is to consolidate power, secure personal enrichment, and dismantle the rules-based international order that threatens their kleptocratic systems. To reach these goals, a non-ideological alliance of autocrats is collaborating across borders, as Applebaum stated in her lecture, “their links are not cemented by ideals, but by deals”.

They deliberately attack democratic institutions, portraying them as decadent and dysfunctional, alongside undermining the language and narratives that once heralded the benefits of a democracy. The primary target of these autocratic networks is liberal democracy itself, because it stands for transparency, regulation, and the rule of law – all of which are obstacles if you are seeking to increase power with the goal to enlarge profits.

A Strategic Response for Democracies

Leaving no room for despair, Applebaum issued an urgent call for a strategic, pragmatic and confident democratic response. She argued that Europe, in particular, must stop thinking defensively and start acting like the world’s strongest democratic economic zone. The European Union, she noted, remains an “oasis of security, stability, and, above all, the rule of law” and that it should use this strength to its advantage.

The future, Applebaum suggested, lies not in rigid primarily value-based alliances but in fluid coalitions of mid-powers, united by shared goals to solve concrete problems. By investing in defense, technology, artificial intelligence, and financial transparency, Europe could attract capital and talent, thereby positioning itself as a powerful democratic alternative to the world’s authoritarian systems.

Overcoming the Crisis of Democracies

Finally, Applebaum addressed the crisis of democracy from within. She identified rising inequality and the fragmentation of the public sphere as critical weaknesses. For democracies to work, they require information systems that favor facts over fiction. Technology offers should be developed, Applebaum argues, that allow room for consensus and critical thinking – rather than merely amplifying anger and outrage.

To provide a positive vision for people to turn to, democratic leaders must reconnect the idea of democracy to people’s daily lives and do a better job at selling them to their public audiences. The rule of law, independent courts, a respect for science are all part of an attractive offer that is not only appealing to Europeans but to bright minds all around the world.

The most effective narrative, she concluded, is not abstract talk, but rather a focus on fairness, power-sharing, and community. This democratic renewal requires a new form of leadership and confidence – centered on cooperation and shared purpose, not exclusion, and backed up by an information ecosystem that builds a common ground for public debate.

More About the Alfred Landecker Memorial Lecture here.