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Cited by 220Political Conflict and GovernanceInternational Relations and Foreign PolicyCrime, Illicit Activities, and Governance

Global Autocracies: Strategies of Transnational Repression, Legitimation, and Co-Optation in World Politics

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Tsourapas, Gerasimos·2021·International Studies Review
DOI 10.1093/isr/viaa061
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Abstract

How, when, and why does a state take repressive action against individuals residing outside its territorial jurisdiction? Beyond state-led domestic forms of control over citizens living within their legal borders, autocracies also seek to target those abroad—from African states’ sponsoring violence against exiled dissidents to Central Asian republics’ extraditions of political émigrés, and from the adoption of spyware software to monitor digital activism across Latin America to enforced disappearances of East Asian expatriates. Despite growing global interconnectedness, the field of international studies currently lacks an adequate comparative framework for analyzing how autocracies adapt to growing cross-border mobility. I argue that the rise of global migration flows has contributed to the emergence of “transnational authoritarianism,” as autocracies aim to both maximize material gains from citizens’ “exit” and minimize political risks by controlling their “voice” abroad. I demonstrate that governments develop strategies of transnational repression, legitimation, and co-optation that transcend state borders, as well as co-operation with a range of non-state actors. Bringing work on the international politics of migration in conversation with the literature on authoritarianism, I provide illustrative examples drawn from a range of transnational authoritarian practices by the fifty countries categorized as “Not Free” by Freedom House in 2019, covering much of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. I sketch an emerging field of international studies research around the novel means that autocracies employ to exercise power over populations abroad, while shedding light on the evolving nature of global authoritarianism.

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  • State-owned firms are typically run by bureaucrats equipped with concentrated control rights and objectives dictated by political interests, such as maintaining the incumbent's rule.

    “State-owned firms are typi cally run by bureaucrats equipped with concentrated control rights and objectives dic tated by political interests, 99 such as maintaining the incumbent's rule. 100”

    From Authoritarian collaboration and repression in the digital age: balancing foreign direct investment and control in internet infrastructure (2026) · cites this paper as [100]

    The Multi-National Corporations section discusses companies cooperating with autocratic regimes, but not how state-owned firms are typically managed. Searches for “state-owned firms,” “bureaucrats,” and “concentrated control rights” found no passage addressing their management or objectives; page numbers were unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Tsourapas, G.
Affiliations
University of Birmingham (GB)
Corresponding author
Tsourapas, Gerasimos
ORCID
Tsourapas, Gerasimos
Venue
International Studies Review
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2020-08-29
Volume
23
Issue
3
Pages
616-644
ISSN
  • 1468-2486 (ISSN-L)
  • 1521-9488
DOI
10.1093/isr/viaa061
OpenAlex
W3082521286
Cited by
220
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 43 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 1
FWCI
28.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Studies Review (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Relations and Foreign Policy
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance
Keywords
authoritarian regimes, transnational repression, legitimation, co-optation, border crossing, extradition, enforced disappearance, spyware, digital activism, non-state actors

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