As President Donald Trump tests US democratic norms and weakens Washington’s commitment to long-standing allies, would-be autocrats the world over have taken heart.
Whether it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s more aggressive offensive in Gaza, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s judicial kneecapping of his main rival, or Indonesia’s president and retired army general Prabowo Subianto blurring the line between civilian and military rule, strongmen everywhere are feeling emboldened, according to many academics and foreign policy experts.
“The US crossing the line into the autocratic camp is a devastating blow for global governance,” said Nicholas Bequelin, senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, adding that Trump had a “clear preference” for strongman rule over democratic oversight.