Description
In recent years there has been a growing literature centred around authoritarian promotion, where some autocracies promote ideas for use by other autocracies. However, there is a better framework to understand the interaction between autocracies. This is the concept of authoritarian bolstering. While the nuances between authoritarian promotion and bolstering are not always clear, promotion involves the idea of promoting something to someone – whereas bolstering is about offering support. Autocracies have not reached the stage of the promotion of autocratisation – at least not to the same level of democratic promotion. Rather these regimes bolster one another. This paper analyses the role of post-Soviet regional organisations in bolstering autocracies in the region. These organisations serve as ‘learning rooms’ for sharing best practices and offer economic and electoral observation support. All of which increases opportunities for autocratic survival. The paper develops the notion of authoritarian bolstering. It offers an in-depth case study of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) intervention in Kazakhstan as a case of authoritarian bolstering.
