ABSTRACT
A trend toward autocratization and authoritarian clustering took place between 2001 and 2015 in the three world regions of Latin America, the Middle East, and Central Asia. This chapter summarizes the robust findings for Latin America and the Middle East, as well as the ambivalent findings for Asia of the small-n comparison: Venezuela was able to establish itself as the protagonist of an authoritarian gravity center (AGC) in an environment of eroding democracy in Latin America. In the Middle East, a region dominated by resilient autocracies, Saudi Arabia increasingly gained influence and attraction on its neighbors. Central Asia, characterized by the autocratization of newly established national states, qualifies as an AGC-dominated region as well. Kazakhstan could, however, not be fully confirmed as the acting authoritarian protagonist. The chapter reflects on the factors that enhance or impede the gravitational force of regional AGCs from a comparative perspective. It analyzes the differences in promotion and diffusion measures of the three researched regions and concludes with open questions for future research.
