Introduction: The Dictatorship of Corporations

Chapter 1: Tangled Greed
Chapter 2: The Transition of Thieves
Chapter 3: Controlling Discourse
Chapter 4 Reorganizing the Board
Chapter 5: Degrading Democrats

In conclusion: For the unity of democrats

Acknowledgements
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How did we arrive at an era of shamelessness and ignorance?
A clear and profound insight into today's turbulent world order.

In recent years, not only the domestic political situation, but also the growing far-right sentiment around the world and Russia's imperialistic behavior have shaken the foundations we believed we should at least protect.
The democratic world order that was formed after the end of World War II and the dissolution of the Soviet Union no longer seems to be a given.
The world's most powerful figures, including Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping, as well as the dictators of many countries, now do not hesitate to engage in blatantly shameless and senseless words and actions.
How did this come to be? Anne Applebaum, who has spent decades uncovering the true nature of authoritarian regimes, including the modern history of Russia and Eastern Europe, draws on numerous case studies to diagnose today's turbulent world order.
The core of the analysis is that authoritarian powers around the world are forming an elaborate international network that unites and supports one another.
This group operates similarly to a corporate conglomerate, bound together by a determined determination to maintain personal wealth and power.
This is the so-called ‘corporation dictatorship.’

How are today's dictatorships different from those of the 20th century?

When we think of a 'dictatorship', there is an image that comes to mind.
At the very top sits the evil one, who controls the military and the police.
The military and police threaten the people with force.
There may be evil collaborators, and there may also be some brave dissidents.
But in the 21st century, this image doesn't quite resemble reality.
Today's dictatorships are run not by a single villain, but by a network of kleptocracy-style financial structures, armies, paramilitary organizations, police, and other security agencies, and technical experts who provide surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation.
Members of this network are connected not only within one dictatorship, but also with other dictatorships and sometimes even with members of democratic states.

Dictatorships are willing to accept sanctions from wealthy democracies like the European Union and the United States.
This is because it has the support of China, the Soviet Union, Iran, etc.
Cuban and Venezuelan leaders present foreign criticism as evidence of a vast imperialist conspiracy orchestrated to destroy them.
The Russo-Ukrainian war was the first full-scale conflict between the world of corporate dictatorship and the world of democracy.
Putin and Xi Jinping have shown many around the world that treaties and conventions concerning war and genocide, as well as "civil liberties" and the "rule of law," are Western ideas and do not apply to them.
Their goal is to 'create a new world order'.
United by mutually imitating technologies and tactics, shared economic interests, and a resolve not to give up power, the members of this corporate dictatorship believe they have the upper hand.
Where this belief comes from, why it persists, how the democratic world solidified it in the first place, and how we can defeat it are the themes of "The Dictatorship of the Corporation."

The world of democracy that was complacent
The world of dictatorship, in turmoil

In this book, author Anne Applebaum, drawing on numerous international examples, exposes the true nature of corporate dictatorship and its code of conduct.
The author cites the 'paradox of success and failure' as the main reason for the current situation.
While the liberal democratic world, immersed in a sense of accomplishment following the collapse of communism in the late 20th century, remained optimistic, the dictatorial world grappled with the experience of failure and struggled to overcome it.
'Liberal democracy has triumphed, and everyone will want it, so the beneficial effects of trade and globalization will soon work their magic.' Many Americans and Europeans believed this, as they assumed that if they made countries like China and Russia richer through trade, they would naturally become more democratic.
No one imagined that dictatorship and illiberalism would spread to the democratic world in the opposite direction.


As a result, the democratic world has not only facilitated the growth of the dictatorial world, but has also come to the point of helping it.
Far from creating a freer society, the now-powerful dictatorships have formed a global network of dictatorships that cooperate with each other and are secretly intertwined with democratic nations.
This point also applies to the Internet and social networks.
In the early 2000s, there was great hope and expectation that democracy would further develop as citizens' political participation and communication became easier through the Internet.
But as we have seen, anonymity has led to the proliferation of indiscriminate hate speech and baseless fake news.
Members of the corporation's dictatorship understand this very well and are actively utilizing this attractive medium.

Dictators' Code of Conduct:
Change the language, redraw the board, and cut down your opponents.

This book also exposes in detail the specific code of conduct of the members of the dictatorship of the stock company and their actual cases.
The main principles are ‘Controlling the Discourse’ (Chapter 3), ‘Rewriting the Board’ (Chapter 4), and ‘Degrading Democrats’ (Chapter 5).
They promote the democratic world order itself as Western imperialist interference and invasion, and they incite political hatred and cynicism through media control and numerous fake news (such as the so-called "tinderbox of lies" strategy), and rather than harming their own democrats, they encourage division and alienation among their supporters by tarnishing them and casting them in a malicious frame.
Additionally, the Soviet Union and China have been working hard to promote their countries positively through various international broadcasts and social media.
The dictatorship of the stock company is trying to erase words like "democracy," "human rights," and "sense of responsibility" from the international stage and spread expressions like "right to development," "sovereignty," "coexistence and cooperation," "mutual respect," and "multipolarity."
These non-threatening and positively nuanced words are actually intended to prevent criticism and sanctions from other countries.
They hope that extreme voices will become more extreme and violent, encouraging people to question the state, question authority, and ultimately question democracy itself.
Thus, we hope to destroy the existing discourse and order and rewrite the rules of the world system.

For the unity of democrats

What must we do to protect a democratic, open, and free society? The author addresses this question in the conclusion.
The key is to reframe the problem, and the democratic world must also build sophisticated networks.
We must also learn to compete against their provocative propaganda campaigns, preserving and promoting our own values, and demonstrating how the fight for good information and truth can lead to change.
Above all, we must recognize that our democratic society is not something we can take for granted, and that it can only be maintained if we make efforts to protect and nurture it.