autarky
noun
au·tar·ky
ˈȯ-ˌtär-kē 
1
: self-sufficiency, independence
specifically
: national economic self-sufficiency and independence
2
: a policy of establishing a self-sufficient and independent national economy
Examples of autarky in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The League of Nations proved feckless as the great powers turned to autarky and protectionism in the 1920s and 1930s, fomenting the nationalism that drove the autocratic regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan to war.
—
Michael Brenes, Foreign Affairs, 28 Jan. 2025
After decades of political purges, economic autarky, and suffocating social control under Mao Zedong, Deng began stabilizing Chinese politics, removing bans on private enterprise and foreign investment and giving individuals greater freedom in their daily lives.
—Kevin Rudd, Foreign Affairs, 9 Nov. 2022
Mulder argues that instead of keeping the peace, this form of economic warfare aggravated the tensions of the 1930s, encouraging austerity and autarky and restraining smaller states but backfiring against the larger authoritarian ones, such as Italy.
—Nicholas Mulder, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021
In this world, American autarky just will not work.
—Time, 11 Oct. 2022
Once a backward autarky, Russia now had real banks and a stock exchange.
—WSJ, 15 June 2022
Putin and his inner circle are the only ones who aspire to Russian autarky.
—Nate Sibley, National Review, 23 Feb. 2022
But punitive Western sanctions could thrust Russia back into a period of relative autarky, where it is forced to adapt to relative economic self-sufficiency, says Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
—Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Mar. 2022
A hundred people living in face-to-face autarky, a seasonal festival site like Burning Man: even these could, in the right circumstances, count as cities.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 16 Dec. 2021
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Michael Brenes, Foreign Affairs, 28 Jan. 2025
After decades of political purges, economic autarky, and suffocating social control under Mao Zedong, Deng began stabilizing Chinese politics, removing bans on private enterprise and foreign investment and giving individuals greater freedom in their daily lives.
—Kevin Rudd, Foreign Affairs, 9 Nov. 2022
Mulder argues that instead of keeping the peace, this form of economic warfare aggravated the tensions of the 1930s, encouraging austerity and autarky and restraining smaller states but backfiring against the larger authoritarian ones, such as Italy.
—Nicholas Mulder, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021
In this world, American autarky just will not work.
—Time, 11 Oct. 2022
Once a backward autarky, Russia now had real banks and a stock exchange.
—WSJ, 15 June 2022
Putin and his inner circle are the only ones who aspire to Russian autarky.
—Nate Sibley, National Review, 23 Feb. 2022
But punitive Western sanctions could thrust Russia back into a period of relative autarky, where it is forced to adapt to relative economic self-sufficiency, says Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
—Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Mar. 2022
A hundred people living in face-to-face autarky, a seasonal festival site like Burning Man: even these could, in the right circumstances, count as cities.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 16 Dec. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near autarky
Cite this Entry
“Autarky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autarky. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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