Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis examines how contemporary authoritarian states respond to, reshape, and contest the transnational spread of liberal ideas. The authors suggest that the post-Cold War assumption of liberal dominance overlooked a more dynamic process in which non-democratic regimes adapt to globalization by repurposing the very networks that once promoted democracy and human rights. They introduce the concept of “authoritarian snapback,” a process through which regimes simultaneously restrict the domestic spread of liberal ideas while advancing anti-liberal norms internationally.

Existing scholarship has often examined authoritarian resilience and democracy promotion separately rather than as interactive processes within transnational spaces. The authors instead shift attention to the transnational arena itself: media ecosystems, universities, sports organizations, and consumer markets through which both liberal and illiberal influences flow. In doing so, the book makes a distinctive contribution to ongoing debates in comparative authoritarianism and international relations, arguing that the retreat of liberal norms reflects not simply democratic backsliding at home but active authoritarian agency in shaping the global normative environment.

The book is structured in nine chapters. It traces the shift from the prominence of transnational liberal influence in the 1990s to a more contested global landscape in the 2020s and presents the conceptual framework of “authoritarian snapback” (Chapters 1–4). It then analyzes how these dynamics unfold across global media, consumer activism, higher education, and international sports, before concluding with their implications for global governance and emerging issue areas (Chapters 5–9). Across these chapters, the analysis draws on a mixed-method approach, combining original datasets with secondary sources and case studies.

The book first discusses the expansion of transnational liberal influence in the 1990s. Chapter 2, “The 1990s Origins and the Acceleration of Transnational Liberal Influence,” shows how liberal norms became embedded in transnational networks during the 1990s through NGOs, media, universities, and corporate actors. The discussion of the 2008 Beijing Olympics illustrates how these networks operated in practice, as human rights organizations, journalists, and advocacy groups used the global visibility of the Games to pressure Chinese authorities on issues such as media access, labor conditions, and civil liberties. The authors show that liberal actors could leverage international attention, institutional access, and reputational concerns to shape state behavior, although these effects remained partial and contingent.

The book then shows how changes in global power distributions and political alignments have altered the terrain of influence. In Chapter 3, “Authoritarian Resurgence and Influence in the 2020s,” the authors approach authoritarian resurgence not primarily as a domestic phenomenon but instead emphasize economic transformations that have strengthened the global position of non-democratic states. They show how the growing market power of authoritarian economies, alongside declining confidence in Western models, has reshaped the conditions under which transnational actors operate. They argue that these developments have constrained the mechanisms that once enabled liberal influence, as illustrated by the contrast between the 2008 and 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Theoretically, the book develops the conceptual framework of “authoritarian snapback” to explain how contemporary authoritarian regimes respond to and reshape transnational liberal influence. Chapter 4, “Authoritarian Snapback Explained,” presents a five-stage model. First, stigmatizing involves discrediting liberal political ideas and the actors associated with them as foreign, subversive, or geopolitically motivated. Second, shielding moves beyond rhetoric to block liberal influence by imposing platform bans, restricting NGOs, and conducting surveillance. Third, regimes reframe engagement by setting new terms for transnational actors, pressuring media, businesses, and universities to align with “local” political values. Fourth, projecting outward extends authoritarian influence beyond national borders through international institutions. Finally, dictating the agenda seeks to reshape global norms by promoting illiberal alternatives and denigrating liberal ideas abroad. The framework captures both defensive and proactive dimensions of authoritarian behavior and contributes to discussions of authoritarian learning and diffusion. Importantly, the authors present these stages not as a strictly sequential process but as a flexible set of strategies that regimes adopt to varying degrees depending on their capacity, ambition, and political circumstances.

Empirically, the book applies this conceptual framework to analyze developments across various domains and draws on diverse data sources. In Chapter 5, “Reconfiguring Global Media Influence,” the authors trace how authoritarian states expand their presence in global media ecosystems through state-backed outlets such as China's CGTN and Xinhua and Russia's RT and Sputnik, as well as through content-sharing agreements with foreign outlets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the same time, they show how these states restrict information flows by limiting journalistic access, such as through visa denials and the forced departure of foreign correspondents, drawing on their original Authoritarian Restrictions on Foreign Journalists dataset.

In Chapter 6, “Repurposing Global Consumer Activism,” the authors compare labor rights campaigns targeting Nike in the 1990s with more recent activism concerning Xinjiang cotton. The contrast highlights how similar forms of transnational advocacy can produce different outcomes depending on the political and economic context. By examining cases such as H&M and the Better Cotton Initiative, the authors show how authoritarian states can mobilize domestic consumer markets and regulatory pressures to counter external criticism. In doing so, the chapter foregrounds the role of corporate actors and market dynamics as important elements in processes of political influence.

In Chapter 7, “Harnessing Global Higher Education,” and Chapter 8, “Rewriting the Playbook: Global Sports,” the authors extend their discussion to higher education and international sports. The analysis of transnational university partnerships and the case of Central European University illustrate how academic institutions become sites of negotiation between liberal norms and authoritarian constraints. The exploration of global sports, including the NBA's relationship with China, Formula 1's expansion, and Qatar's hosting of the World Cup, shows how these arenas function as spaces of political visibility.

The book has two main strengths. First, it brings together different domains under a coherent analytical framework of “authoritarian snapback.” Second, it combines original datasets with qualitative case studies. However, there are a few areas where the analysis could be developed further. First, the analysis focuses primarily on traditional media networks, and greater attention to newer forms of communication, such as social media and influencers, would further enrich the discussion. Second, a further aspect worth exploring is the role of cultural industries, particularly how authoritarian states censor films and how production companies respond to these constraints. Third, a clearer comparison across different types of authoritarian regimes and regional contexts would help clarify the argument's scope. Finally, the book could engage more with alternative explanations, such as the role of economic mechanisms.

In conclusion, Dictating the Agenda offers an original account of the changing relationship between globalization and political power and how authoritarian states respond to and reshape liberal norms. By bringing these domains into a coherent analytical framework, the authors address the limits of earlier assumptions that authoritarian states are primarily reactive to liberal norms rather than active agents in shaping them. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of political sociology, global governance, media studies, and popular culture. It would also be a valuable addition to course reading lists across several fields. Chapters 1–4, which develop the book's conceptual framework, would fit well within courses on authoritarianism, democratization, and international relations. Chapter 5 on global media and Chapter 6 on consumer activism would enrich courses on global governance and international political economy, while Chapters 7 and 8, which examine higher education and sports, would be particularly relevant to courses on globalization and popular culture.