The particular concern of this paper is how autocratic, non-accountable governance connects to other dimensions of fragility. On a daily basis, development practitioners navigate their way through the volatile and frequently violent contexts of the fragile states where they work. Often, they contend with obstructive and unaccountable authoritarian regimes. There is a good prima facie case that autocracy leads to fragility, and that fragility in turn loops back to autocracy. But the more one probes, the more tenuous and multi‑stranded the relationships between them appear. This paper argues that there needs to be less emphasis on good practice norms and policy templates, and more on well-informed realism about what can be achieved within the political constraints and dynamics of each local, national, and regional situation.Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) 2021