This project examines the international dimensions of transitions to and consolidation of authoritarian rule. The need for greater theoretical focus on the sources of authoritarian politics reflects the enduring power and influence of non-democratic regimes in an increasingly democratic world. However, while recent scholarship has sought to conceptualise and explain the enduring patterns of authoritarianism, the existing literature in this field has focused almost exclusively on domestic-level politics, and has marginalised international-level factors.Building on the expertise of the Principal Investigator in the international politics of regime change, this project will overturn existing understandings and will create a new agenda for future research by providing a dedicated and comparative analysis of international dimensions of authoritarian rule that rests on the systematic study of a wide range of quantitative and qualitative evidence by an integrated team of specialist researchers. The project will involve an innovative multi-method research design that combines advanced quantitative techniques (to assess the international influences on regime duration over time) with rigorous case study analyses (to identify the causal mechanisms linking international variables to domestic authoritarian politics).The four-year project will help establish a new scholarly community with a common intellectual focus, which will collectively pioneer a new agenda for research into the international politics of authoritarianism. The overall project team will be comprised of the PI, one full time-time post-doctoral research fellow, two full-time doctoral students, a part-time doctoral research assistant, and the partial involvement of Dr Jonathan Glub from the University of Reading. The project outputs will include a PI-authored monograph and a PI-edited collected volume, as well as a range of individual and collaborative research articles.