How should democracies approach autocracies? This question is pertinent to politicians, ceo’s and human rights activists and ordinary citizens alike. Germany’s close cooperation with dictatorships has been widely criticized over the past decade. Close ties to non-democratic states such as Russia, China or Iran have led to calls for tougher sanctions. Based on extensive archival research, historian Frank Bösch shows on the one hand how Germany developed close relationships with dictatorships around the world since WOII and on the other how human right activists and their critique did substantially impact foreign policy.