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Lecture

Robert Fox
The Transaction of Autocrats

Monday 25.05.2026

How to watch

This lecture starts on 25 May at 7:00pm (UK).

Summary

Robert Fox takes a deep look at the dominant figures occupying today’s headlines—autocrats like Trump, Xi, Putin, and Narendra Modi. Each has developed a distinct style that has become a mark of the age: Modi’s Hinduism, Xi’s loose interpretation of Marxist-Leninism and Maoism. Yet their success remains qualified and has not been fully endorsed by the verdict of contemporary history.

Examining their performative record and the success of their various transactions, Robert considers whether the transactional approach always wins through. In the aftermath of the May 14–16 summit between Xi and Trump, he asks why this approach has failed in some cases—notably with Russia and Ukraine, and with the US and Iran.

In exploring the transactions of autocrats and the enduring allure of democracy, Robert also asks whether democracy is now canceling itself out, as recent developments in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy may suggest. How, for example, has Pedro Sánchez sustained success in Spain? And what might democracy deliver in Israel’s forthcoming general election?

Current Events 220 lectures
Geopolitics 486 lectures

Robert Fox

An image of Robert Fox
Robert Fox has been a professional reporter, commentator, author, and broadcaster for over 40 years. He has reported from the front in the Falklands conflict of 1982, the Middle East, including Iraq and the Palestinian territories, as well Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. After leaving Oxford with an honors degree in history in 1967, he has worked as a staff reporter and correspondent for the BBC and the Daily Telegraph. He is currently defense correspondent for the Evening Standard and broadcasts frequently for the BBC, Sky, and Radio 24 in Italy. Among his books are Eyewitness Falklands (1982), Antarctica and the South Atlantic (1985), and Camera in Conflict(1995). Robert lectures frequently to the British Army and the diplomatic community in London. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Royal Institute for International Affairs, Chatham House.
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