Dictatorship and ruthlessness

[From Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin, text by Andrew S. Weiss, art by Brian “Box” Brown. New York: First Second, 2022.]

That’s Gene Sharp (1928–2018), political scientist and theorist of nonviolent action, speaking. Weiss describes Sharp’s work as “all about figuring out ways to topple dictators.” The words in the first panel are often attributed to Sharp. I can’t find a specific source for panels two and three.

I have to wonder if what we’re now seeing in the United States is an authoritarian regime on the rise or an authoritarian regime that already realizes it’s on borrowed time. We’ll know in two weeks, right?

Related reading
Gene Sharp’s 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action (A free PDF from the Digital Library of Nonviolent Resistance)