Editing Kirkpatrick Doctrine (section)

==Criticism==
Kirkpatrick's tenet that totalitarian regimes are more stable than authoritarian regimes has come under criticism since the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, particularly as Kirkpatrick predicted that the Soviet system would persist for decades.

Ted Galen Carpenter of the [[Cato Institute]] has also disputed the doctrine, noting that while communist movements tend to depose rival authoritarians, the traditional authoritarian regimes supported by the U.S. came to power by overthrowing democracies. He thus concludes that while communist regimes are more difficult to eradicate, traditional autocratic regimes "pose the more lethal threat to functioning democracies."<ref>[http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa058.html "The United States and Third World Dictatorships: A Case for Benign Detachment"] Ted Galen Carpenter. Cato Policy Analysis No. 58, August 15, 1985</ref>{{undue inline|reason=not a notable critic|date=June 2024}}