The West Must Revive Support for Dissidents as Central to Confronting Authoritarian Regimes
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/by/bret-stephens. "Opinion | Dissidents Are Silenced, and the West Moves On - The New York Times." February 10, 2026. www.nytimes.com
The Gist
The author argues that Western countries have made a big mistake by treating human rights as less important than business deals when dealing with countries like China and Russia. He believes supporting brave people like Jimmy Lai who stand up to dictators should be our top priority, not something we ignore to make trade easier.
Conclusion
The West should prioritize supporting dissidents like Jimmy Lai through global campaigns because human rights issues are central to, not separate from, geopolitical confrontations with authoritarian regimes
Premises
- Jimmy Lai's 20-year sentence represents the broader silencing of dissidents by authoritarian regimes like China
- The West has abandoned dissidents as a public cause since 2008, treating human rights as secondary to economic and security interests
- The fundamental confrontation with China, Russia, and other authoritarian states is about the place of personal liberty in political order, not trade or territorial disputes
- Authoritarian leaders will violate any agreement when convenient because they don't respect liberty
- Dissidents are the free world's most effective weapon against dictatorships because courage and conscience in a regime's own people poses the greatest threat
- Historical precedent shows the West once prioritized dissidents like Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov during the Cold War with positive results
Assumptions
- Supporting dissidents effectively weakens authoritarian regimes
- Human rights and geopolitical stability are fundamentally linked
- Public campaigns can meaningfully pressure authoritarian governments
- The Cold War model of dissident support was successful and applicable today
- Realpolitik approaches ultimately fail with authoritarian regimes