Trump joins Putin, Xi and Modi as the four horsemen of global authoritarianism

The election of Donald Trump for his second presidential term has sparked widespread fears about an imminent authoritarian drift in the United States.

How this might play out remains speculative, at least for now. But evidence from Trump's first term, as well as his campaign policies and cabinet appointments since the election, suggests that these fears are not unfounded.

Another way to look at it, however, is that Trump's return simply echoes the realities of international systems. Other great powers, China, Russia, and India, have all exhibited similar political pathologies for some time now.

Because of their collective power and influence in determining the nature of the world order, Trump's victory therefore marks the amplification of a profoundly autocratic era in world politics.

The characteristics of what we could call this Emerging Pax Autocratica can be seen in various ways, as these four horsemen of authoritarianism move forward with their policies and plans.

Strongman politics

Donald Trump and his Chinese counterparts Xi Jinping, Russian Vladimir Putin and Indian Narendra Modi are all bombastic, confrontational and confrontational leaders. They embody the archetype of strongman politics in which power is concentrated in a single potentially all-powerful individual.

In addition to sharing psychological characteristics of the alpha male and developing a cult of personality around them, they seek to rule for long periods of time.

In 2018, Xi removed presidential term limits of the Chinese constitution. In 2020, Putin amended the Russian constitution, allowing him to rule until 2036, leading to what has been described as a politics of eternity.

In power since 2014, Modi has won the last three elections in India. Accused of having a divine complexits success is based on mainstream Hindu nationalism firstcapturing the legal system and rewriting Indian history.

Trump also flirted with the idea of ​​a third term (impossible under current constitutional rules), saying: we just need to understand this.

Constraining human rights

Each of these leaders has overseen governments that have sought to restrict and curtail human rights. This includes limit freedoms of speech and expression in the Russian media, attack journalists And demonstrators in India, and purge the opponents in China. In all three countries, this involves the use of legal mechanisms to stifle dissent.

Reports after Trump's victory suggest he also wants punish or repress protest and dissent. THE increasing politicization of the United States Supreme Court matches similar trends in the other three countries.

This has been likened to a move away from the rule of law (which underpins a free and open society) towards the rule of law (in which the law becomes a tool of control).

Globally, warnings have been issued that have curtailed freedoms of speech, association and expression. threaten the fundamental structures of civil society. The 2024 Report on the state of civil society According to the monitoring group Civicus, 72% of the world's population now lives under authoritarian regimes.

Attacking minorities

The first Trump administration actively discriminated against against ethnic minority groups, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities and immigrants.

Strengths Travel ban in 2017 closed the American border to Muslims, while the planned eviction up to 13 million illegal migrants was one of the pillars of his 2024 campaign.

In Russia, attacks against minorities and foreigners are commonplace, with racism described as uncontrollable by Amnesty International. Since 2014, violence and discrimination against India's 200 million Muslims have increased. significantly increased under the leadership of the Hindu nationalist Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

THE Actions of the Modi government actively discriminate against Muslims employment, education, justice and housingparticularly in Kashmir and Assam.

These sound with China's actions in Xinjiang and Tibet where ethnic minorities are found victims of violations of fundamental human rights. Beijing is also building a social credit system designed to strengthen public trust in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and create a society of compliant subjects.

Weakened electoral systems

Although ostensibly democratic, the American, Indian and Russian political and electoral systems have glaring weaknesses, which undermine demands for equality, fairness and electoral plurality.

Although not as overtly authoritarian as China (under one-party rule of the CCP since 1949, and who systematically silences his opponents), elections in Russia are essentially non-competitive and do not facade of democracy.

In the United States, the gerrymandering of electoral regions, voter suppressionAnd major corporate donations tilt the political landscape towards particular interests.

The same goes for India, which has evolved towards a form of electoral autocracyand is now described as only a partially free democracy by the watchdog group Freedom House. These trends are exacerbated by India's persistence. intergenerational political dynasties And powerful political donors.

Surveillance and security

All these authoritarian tendencies are supported by modernity. monitoring structuresfocused inward toward a country's own citizens as much as outward, and enabled by Big Tech and now AI.

What has been described as algorithmic authoritarianism takes different forms. The Chinese social credit system uses this technology to establish social control mainly through financial leverage.

India Central monitoring system allows government agencies to monitor all mobile, landline and internet communications with minimum legal restrictions. The widespread reach of Russian capabilities has led to a total digital surveillance cyber gulag.

In the United States, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed mass surveillance of phone records in 2013, which was found to be illegal in 2020. Now, Trump's alliance with Elon Musk has potential implications for his administration's approach to AI and national security , including Musk who continues to use your social media platform to strengthen Trump's political support.

Trump's return has normalized and reinforced authoritarianism internationally, making it the rule rather than the exception. America's autocratic drift is now part of a broader global pattern that threatens democratic forces everywhere.