Political analysis reveals strategic subversion of professional militaries by autocrats worldwide, highlighting tactical mechanisms behind global democratic decline.
Aspiring autocrats around the globe are actively subverting professional militaries to wed them to their anti-democratic projects. They utilize a repertoire of tactics—specifically co-optation, internal institutional manipulation, and demographic or identity-based “stacking”—to transform impartial armed forces into partisan tools designed to concentrate unaccountable executive authority.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Risa Brooks (2026) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: