Marcel Dirsus: "Wie Diktatoren stürzen und wie Demokraten siegen können"

In the organizer's words:

The author in conversation with Christian Werthschulte

Democracies are under pressure all over the world, autocracies and dictatorships are emerging everywhere. The rulers present themselves as tough men who are strong and invincible. But they all fail. This is because autocracies have systemic flaws - they cannot function in the long term.

Sometimes it is members of the inner circle of power, sometimes it is the military, sometimes the masses rise up because they have had enough of corruption and wrong decisions, sometimes it is opposition members who plan a coup from exile. Tyrants always have more enemies than friends - and the end of their rule is often dramatic: exile, prison, death. How they fall has a major impact on the course of history.

In this brilliantly written book, Marcel Dirsus shows which factors lead to the end of autocracies. His research is based, among other things, on conversations with leaders of revolutions, rebels and soldiers around the world. He looks into the heart of violence and meticulously describes the decisive moments in which tyrants lose power. Using examples from the present and history, he develops a systematic approach that allows us to understand the mechanism of power.

Marcel Dirsus was born in 1990, studied in Hangzhou, Odessa, Paris and Oxford and is now a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University. He advises governments, foundations and international organizations such as NATO and the OECD and writes for the Washington Post and The Guardian, among others. His areas of specialization include irregular changes of government, political violence and German foreign policy.

Christian Werthschulte is a journalist and works for Stadtrevue, taz, DLF and WDR on pop and politics.

Price information:

Admission costs 8 euros, concessions 6 euros, with a disabled pass 4 euros. Tickets are available in advance from kölnticket. Remaining tickets may be available at the Box Office.