Almost 75% live under autocracies, levels not seen for almost half a century
Photo: Demonstration in front of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Headquarter in Istanbul against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Three out of four people live without fundamental democratic freedoms.
Autocracies govern nearly 75% of humanity - a level we haven't seen since 1978, according to the V-Dem Institute. The respected independent research institute based at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden measures levels of the qualities of government.
These are just some of the latest developments:
→ Turkey: Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a promising opponent for the presidency, was arrested under charges aimed at silencing opposition. Erdogan used courts as tools for consolidating power ahead of elections.
Even longstanding democracies aren't immune. Under Donald Trump, America witnessed:
- Federal purges targeting opposition voices.
- Concentrated executive power over institutions.
- Norm erosion that will destabilize democracy itself.
- Many executive orders are bent around personal interests, not societal needs.
The amplitude of the backsliding of democracy in the US has ripple effects across the globe: Autocratic systems feel now it is their time to thrive and act even bolder - as we can see with Putin just playing Trump and going to continue the war in Ukraine this year, Erdogan locking away his most powerful opponent, or China getting just more than 170 miles (150 nautical miles) away from Sydney with their warships beginning of the year.
By acting without understanding the more significant dimension of multidimensional geopolitics and foreign affairs, Trump will be the president who creates the circumstances for autocrats to be more open and aggressive about their drive for grabs of power, land, money, control, and dismantling of freedom.
This is the beginning of a new era, an era of battles and big wars between two fundamentally opposing forces over the next decade: autocrats and the autocratic systems they command on one side, and free nations, along with the open, democratic societies they represent, on the other. A clash of ideologies, values, and visions for the future of global order. And eventually in a second phase, wars between autocrats for resources and power.
We are just not prepared yet. But the fights for freedom and the coming wars will cost millions of lives. This will be one of the most volatile, and disruptive eras ever. This isn't fearmongering or pessimism - look at the odds. And consider what has happened since the end of the Cold War.
Leaders pushing boundaries see apathy as permission - and history shows us that unchecked authoritarianism doesn't stop; it accelerates. Democracy isn't static or guaranteed. It is fought for. It is sustained. It is earned over generations and is hard to regain if trust is shattered.
