Introduction

Elected authoritarians don't rule alone. Their power depends on networks—business leaders, military chiefs, religious figures, and international actors who treat them as legitimate partners. These alliances provide the money, protection, and credibility that keep new authoritarian regimes alive.

That's why Volume 8 of the Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit focuses on International Support. To weaken authoritarian regimes, democracy defenders must go beyond the streets and the ballot box, fracturing the coalitions that sustain them by shifting how they are seen abroad.

Legitimacy is never fixed; it can be contested, reshaped, and withdrawn. Here you'll find plays to encourage defections, organize diasporas, pressure international media, and push democratic governments to act. Each one helps erode legitimacy from multiple directions—political, social, and global.

Authoritarians thrive on the illusion of inevitability. These plays prove their power isn't inevitable at all if we turn cracks into fractures—and fractures into breakthroughs.