Anti-Democracy Promotion: Strategic Options

International democracy promotion strategies have broadened and deepened since the end of the Cold War, and a heterogeneous set of regimes (authoritarian, hybrid, and some unorthodox democracies) has begun experimenting with counter-strategies, which are variously motivated by regime survival tactics, alliance strategies, domestic political calculations and principle (usually the defence of national sovereignty), among other factors. Multiple patterns of response are possible given the heterogeneity of regime types and strategic calculations, international learning, trial and error, and experiments with coordinated resistance. This article proposes a theory-based typology, and compares the resulting categories of resistance with an inductive classification of currently observable responses in six countries. The focus is on internationally driven strategic choices, although the resulting menu of options can include single country and inward looking strategies.