Review: ’The Dictator’s Learning Curve’ by William Dobson
![In his new book, Dobson argues the Chinese Communist Party is one of several New Age autocratic regimes that justify oppressive rule with economic success. Pictured: Chinese President Hu Jintao. (Jason Lee/Courtesy Reuters)](http://cdn.cfr.org/sites/default/files/styles/slide_3_2/public/image/2012/05/20120521_Hu-Jintao.webp)
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The ongoing uprisings in the Arab world, as well as transformations in Myanmar and several other closed countries, have led to predictions that we are in the beginnings of a global Fourth Wave of democratization, following the three previous waves over the past century. I disagree ---and I think the data supports my argument that in reality democracy in many developing nations remains in serious crisis. In the new issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, I review William Dobson’s book The Dictator’s Learning Curve, which deals with many of these questions of whether a Fourth Wave is upon us. Read the review on Bloomberg Businessweek.
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