Dealing with dictators

Abstract

Dictatorship is a great stain upon our world. Dictators treat their subjects purely as means to their own aggrandizement, and not as agents with a right to participate in self‐government. Moreover, dictators frequently, though not always, commit great harms: starting wars, brutalizing dissidents, persecuting minorities, and squandering resources which could otherwise be used to advance the common good.

The question of how outsiders—including outsiders living in societies committed in word, if not always in deed, to the core principles of liberal democracy—ought to engage with or respond to dictatorial regimes, though, is a thorny one. Difficult questions arise in the context of overseas aid, for instance, as states and NGOs grapple with how to act in a situation where their support might bolster repressive regimes. But the focus here will be upon international trade. In recent years, a number of scholars have argued that for liberal democracies to allow their citizens and corporations to trade with dictatorships can also serve to entrench dictators' positions, and even make the emergence of dictatorships more likely. ...

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ORCID for Christopher Armstrong: orcid.org/0000-0002-7462-5316

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