The Enduring Power of Communism: The International Origins of Authoritarian Consolidation

Once they embarked on these state-building strategies, their paths diverged markedly. Cambodia failed to consolidate its authoritarian institutions, in stark contrast to the experiences in neighbouring Vietnam and Laos. Authoritarian consolidation occurred in North Korea and China, only to be disrupted by radical campaigns like the Great Leap Forward that attacked the very state bureaucracies they had just built. Elsewhere in Mongolia and Cuba the process of authoritarian consolidation was protracted and delayed for over a decade. Most notably, communism collapsed in Mongolia and Cambodia at the end of the Cold War as ruling parties renounced their monopoly on power and initiated democratic elections. The Enduring Power of Communism explains why these divergent pathways emerged. Outside of the communist camp the results of Soviet aid were less impressive. Soviet efforts in Ghana ended in spectacular failure: the economy cratered and its ruler, Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown by a military coup. Far from an outlier, this marked a pattern: while Soviet aid strengthened communist regimes, it made non-communist regimes more vulnerable to military coups.