Resilient autocracies: What we can learn about their defeat?

Moderator:

Elena Korosteleva, Oxford Belarus Observatory (OBO); Professor/Director, IGSD at Warwick

Speakers:

Martin K. Dimitrov, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Tulane University

Stephen Hall, Assistant Professor in Russian and Post-Soviet Politics, University of Bath

Diana Kudaibergenova, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge

Sofie Bedford, Affiliated Researcher, Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University

Resilience may mean ‘all things to all people’, but when applied to authoritarian regimes, it clearly underscores their capacity to adapt and learn from the transformational struggles, to protect themselves, negotiate and even grow stronger. In this fight for survival, there are always two sides to a coin - the state and the society: they draw on divergent resources and power distribution, which seemingly can make one stronger, and the other one - disbanded or exiled. Whatever the outcome, the people would either have to comply and adapt, or rise up and sweep away, to establish new arrangements of power to suit their demands and aspirations, because they are the ultimate resource of power and a guarantor of its stability.

How all this works in real life, is a different story, with many diversions and tangents to follow. What would be the outcome of the prolonged struggle and suffering in Belarus and Russia, for example? Can dictatorships adapt and find a new consensus with their people, as many cases of Central Asia seem to tell us? What are the strategies, tactics, and tools for civil society and democratic leaders to challenge the status quo and ensure their ultimate win? These and other questions will be discussed in a panel discussion organised by the Oxford Belarus Observatory, in partnership with the Research Center of  Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Office, and the IGSD, University of Warwick.

Please register here.

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