In 1950 28% of the world was Democratic.
Today 60%.

I guess I am an optimist. I think this number is phenomenal.

Check this map out:
http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/march-of-democracy.html

In another 60 years, it should be 100% God Willing.

Thank God for Langley.

There may be a time in the future where a few nations fall from grace and subtract from the world democracy list . As a state that strives for a democratic world. We should sanction and tire totalitarian states as if its essential as eating or breathing.

A few of the individuals on this list are not really dictators in the classical sense. Hu Jintao, for example, does not maintain absolute power over China like Mugabe does over Zimbabwe, and Ahmadinejad holds little power compared to the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard.

Anyone who has spent at least ten minutes reading about the Islamic Republic's political system would know that the Supreme Leader of Iran holds executive authority in the country, not the President. Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamenei is the dictator of Iran, not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Do readers really have to point this out to Foreign Policy? Is there an editor in the house?

You'll love this N. Korean tourist video:

http://www.strategypage.com/military_videos/military_photos_2010060717227.aspx

It is interesting to note the utter absence of some tyranical leaders. The heads of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt are nowhere mentioned in this rather extensive list. This is probably because such states are allied to the U.S. For AYITTEY, it seems, this alone makes such tyrants - in comparison with whose regimes all of Chavez's so-called antidemocratic violations pale - more palatable. By the way, what does AYITTEY means by saying that "Chavez promotes a doctrine of participatory democracy in which he is the sole participant"? This funnily oxymoronic phrasing should be explained. Or perhaps it is not in AYITTEY's interests to explain it.

You can call the Cuban revolution many things, but I'm not convinced that "abysmal failure" is one of them.

Totally agreed with ASCHOPS as the absences of some tyrannical leaders are missing here..., and that this could lead to have doubts about the impartiality of the author. Now, about Chavez, I believe the author have had -in a few words- one of the best-ever descriptions of this modern-day dictator, and allow me to explain this for you; the author said: "Chavez promotes a doctrine of participatory democracy in which he is the sole participant", the "promotes a doctrine of participatory democracy" part is exactly what his Cuban-controlled government is successfully selling to the international community. And, the “in which he is the sole participant" part relates to the reality Venezuelans are facing in their daily routines... Of course, most of his more loyalist intellectuals support a president like this from the outside, but I most extend an invitation to all of you: To live, to work and to have an opinion within the Venezuelan borders... Hopefully, that same opinion will not have anything against the status-quo, otherwise you might be listed together with the rest of Venezuelans and/or internationals who dared to have a contradictory opinion of the regime... And please, as somebody said in one of their comments, please do some research before having an opinion: Please do not play the card: “But poor people are with him”, this is one his old best-seller fabrication… Petare –by some accounts the largest slum in South America- is under control of the opposition in spite of the openly biased electoral processes in Venezuela.

6 tyrants down before you get to a Caucasian. Then another 15 before another. 2 out of 23 (OK, maybe I'll include Raul for 3 out of 23). Maybe this list shows that evil is part of human nature rather than categorized by the color (or lack of,) of one's skin.

Mr. Ayittey did his very best to make sure some butts were kissed. We should also keep in mind that just because a country is a democracy, that doesn't mean its leaders aren't ruthless, some worst then leaders in his top 23. here are some suggestion (in no particular order)for Mr. Ayittey, he may want to make sure he mentions them in his book:
--saudia arabia- the monarchy promotes the most extreme form of islam, which calls for the killings of non-muslims and minority muslims. surpresses women, and is currently working with Yemen to bomb villages of rebels.all this while the U.S bow dows to them
--afghanistan-the puppet president of afghanistan is probably the biggest heroine drug lord in the world. he has done nothing for his people, all of his cabinet appointees are all connected to drug and sex slave trade, all this while the U.S continues to breast feed him
--Pakistan-perhaps the world's largest exporter of jihadi terrorisim, we feed this country billions in aids, while it leaders build nice homes in other countries at the same time they train the taliban to bomb and kill its own people.
--Israel-the so called "shinning light of democracy" is only running the world largest open air prison, continues to demolish arab homes, annually bomb the gaza strip, runs check points, steal resources that belong to the arabs. all this while it controls washington and whines like a 5 year old school girl when it is scolded for bad behavior.
--European Union-the continent that is most responsible for centuries of colonizing other lands, stealing resources enslaving millions of people, and purposley created conflicts in regions of africa, latin america, and middle east., now walks around with its snobby noses head held high pretending they are the most "civilized" of people.
--United States-has illegally launched 2 wars, support shalf the dictators in the worlds, gives billions of dollars and military aid to the likes of israel and pakistan. steals money from its own citizens to pay banks, insurance companies, private security contractors, and forces its citizens to choose between "democrats and republicans" as the only choice of government.

Not sure what was the auther's criteria but i won't think of Jintao and Ahmedinajad as Tyrants. On the contrary, Jintao seems to be a man with a mission - to place China at the top of the list of developed countries. As for Ahmedinajad, he is proably the only elected leader in that part of the world (except israel) where all the countries ruled by dictators are considered to be friends of USA. I saw some comeents from readers, and rightly so, about missing out several of the kings and princes out of the list, especially in the oil rich nations.

YES ,TO HAVE PUT CHAVEZ IN THIS LIST IS A CRIME AGAISNT MY COUNTRY,THERE IS NO WAY TO COMPARE AND PUT CHAVEZ IN THE SAME SACK WITH THOSE CRIMINALS,THE ALLEGATION THAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS ARE STUPIDS,IS A LIE THAT HE CLSES DOWN ON THE MEDIA ,HERE WE HAVE TOO MUCH OF LIBERTY,HE HAS NOT PUT AWAY THE OPOCISION LEADERS,THEY BROKE THE LAW,KILLED PEOPLE AND STEAL MONEY, YES THE ONLY PROBLEM I SEE IS THAT HE THINKS IS THE ONLY TO BE ALOWWED TO SPEAK AND LEAD THE REVOLUTION,BIG PROBLEM ,HE IS HURTING HIMSELF DOING SO,IN ORDER TO SAVE THE CHANGES HE NEEDS TOI DELEGATE....IS NO NICE

If you're going to put Hu Jintao in there; then Vladimir Putin certainly deserves to be in this list.

The colombian president, must be in this list, the civil population killed under his governement and then showed as guerrilla is in another things part of his state policies, the try to change the constitutional laws to reelect another period was only comparable with venezuela president hugo chavez.

Chavez is using the money of the Venezuelan hospitals, schools, houses, etc. to help left wing government's, pro terrorist countries and movement like:

Hezzbolah, Farc, Eln, Eta, also they sell Uranium to Iran to built weapons of mass destruction.

His friends, Evo morales (Bolivia), Ortega [Nicaragua(Rapist)], Kirchner (both), Correa (Ecuador), and all the list of the worst.

Now in Venezuela they have terrorist camp of Farc, Eln and Hezzbolah, and they thick Chavez is a democrat president? who's being naive...

""6 tyrants down before you get to a Caucasian.""

I was surprised this comment wasnt made sooner. Race, for some people, is the first point to make about anything.

I'm not sure what the guy's point was, really, regarding 'human nature'. Its pretty clear that Africa houses the largest concentration of failed states; its not a really racial point, but rather a geographic one.

But yeah, where's Mubarak?

This was great too:

""THE ALLEGATION THAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS ARE STUPIDS""

With over half of these thugs hailing from Africa, would recolonization by the West be a bad thing? China is gobbling up all of their resources almost on a daily basis, yet if the West would even consider it, it all of sudden becomes racist.

SITHLORD, what you are saying is so overhyped. Try read something besides the Wall Street Jornal.

Nice attempt the list, but I think there must be a difference between an authoritarian regime and a real despot that just rips off his country. This is blurry line of course. When it comes to opression however, Saudi Arabia is missing, if you lay the criteria on war crimes, Israel would be prominent and so on. Even though being though to its own people, authoritarian systems often work better than "democracies", or at least what the US calls a democracy.

I can not understand why for example Belarus Lukashenko is on the list. Who has actually been to Belarus sees that people live much better than in neighbouring "democracies" such as Georgia and Ukraine, where corruption is rampant and people more impoverished. Even though having a tight grip on the country it is understood why people vote for him.

This is a joke. Some bad guy list, so the warmongering America can call itself The Good Guy. Read the Iran page. Apart from being factually incorrect, it’s a direct smear campaign.

All those sneaky creepy secret shareholders of the Federal Reserve Banks. They control the money and they control everything don't they? You forgot to put them in or they just censored it? LOL

Really? Sure, he might not have a whole lot of finesse when dealing with the international media, but that hardly makes him a tyrant or dictator. Besides, holding the nuclear program and the use of the Basij last June against him is neglecting the fact that the Supreme Leader holds all the cards. Ahmadinejad doesn't have complete control over either! Let's face it -- putting Ahmadinejad on the list will get big cheers from the American public/ pro-invasion hawks, but it's not worth anything in terms of actually educating the West about Iranian politics.

we all seek freedom, respecting human rights, defending human life and dignity for all those who r persecuted or tortured, i m from Egypt but i feel so emotionally near to any one who suffers under any of those dictatorships, let's all unite to fight against those dictators whatever our race, religion or nationality

Much of the list consists of no-brainers, but some of it is really obtuse. OK, bad maybe, but "worst of the worst"? Give me a break!

What existed before Paul Kagame in Rwanda wasn't apartheid but genocide. He has NOT continued that practice. The so-called "apartheid" is the Tutsi's well-justified discrimination against the Hutus, who participated in the genocide en masse -- like the Allies' discrimination against much of the Germans after their genocide.

As for Raul Castro, the notion that Cubans are yearning to be free of Castro's "communist yoke," is crap. Whatever we think of the brothers Castro, ordinary Cubans like Castro -- who didn't enrich himself -- and have it better under Fidel than Batista, and they would have it still better were it not for America's merciless blockade of Cuba. Would they like to see change? Who wouldn't after the same regime for a half century. Hell, Americans are ready for a change after a year!

Equally ridiculous is the inclusion of the leader of China. To place him on the same list as Mugabe indicates an absence of proportion. Given that China is a huge, fractious, emerging nation, its authoritarian rule is relatively benign. The Chinese are only a few generations removed from the Tai Ping Rebellion, the worst internal bloodbath in history, claiming as many as 30 million lives. They are understandably afraid of dissent getting out of hand.

I think Ayittay needs a lesson on the the difference between authoritarian and despotic.

I love my president Mubarak and proud to be leaded by him and wish he leaded us more 30 years. I feel honored to have him as president.

The Worst of the Worst is to say that others are bad and do not see your self from inside. This website does not have right to put my president in such stupid list :-(.

My dear FP friends,

The CEPAL/ECLAC, a UN commission, reported that from 2003 to 2007, that is, in only four years, poverty in venezuela went down from about 50% to 25%, and extreme poverty from about 25% to 8%.

Venezuela also became the most egalitarian society in the Americas at the end of 2007.

Mr. Chavez also enjoys majority approval and he has admitted defeat in some of his reform proposals via popular referendum. Democracy, as you might recall from elementary school teachings, is the will of the majority.

You allege that Mr. Chavez closes down "independent" media and jails opponents, yet you fail to specify who and where.

By "independent media", do you mean "private media"? Again you fail to explain what you mean by this. Although it is clear that the private media in Venezuela has undertaken the task of demonizing virtually every aspect of the Chavez government, these media have been shut down only for violation of license requirements and some have been prosecuted for violation of defammation laws. Yes, the once untouchable media have seen the government stand up to them (something perhaps America should do with the likes of, e.g. Fox News), but no respectable source specifies that a station has been closed down merely because it opposed the government.

And I agree with some of your readers who note the remarkable absence in this article of some of the most brutal tyrannies in the Middle East that are allied with the US government. Perhaps this is nail that seals the coffin of a once-credible magazine.

Congratulations on a very catchy piece, but shame on you for its lack of content and critical thinking.

I didn't see the autocrat and supreme representative of the divine Monarchy called the Vatican, Herr Ratzinger, a.k.a "The Vicar of Christ" or "Benedict XVI", in the index.

Is he included in the index of the printed edition of the magazine?

Thanks a lot

Hu Jintao is not a dictator.. George Bush was more powerful than him. He doesn't even control china economy. Tibet was under China control before he was in power you moron.

Thank you Dr Ayittey

Job well done. Justice will prevail. These despots are to be casted out!

The President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe is also another one. He is the worst of the worst, manipulative nder the ranch of Blaise Compaore, his poisemate!

not sure how the list has been put out 'cause some leaders are totally not...
worst of the worst?
so what the people in these countries think?
LOL, stupid list

some countries and some nations just need dictators...

As an American I tread lightly into this subject. However I seldom see solutions or lists for the most developed countries.

Is it that FEAR sells easier than prosperity?

Darren
Online Business Ideas

Wow, what a bunch of lunatic apologists on this board. Apologists for oppressive dictatorships...unbelievable. To say that Chavez and Ahmadnejad aren't all that bad, and that the US and Israel are the oppressive regimes is just ludicrous. As an American, I will be the first to say that our system isn't perfect, but it's night and day between these misfits. First of all, this article is about DICTATORSHIPS. The US elections are entirely democratic, with separation of powers between the branches of government...how does that equate to an oppressive dictatorship? The definitions don't even equate. Also, I'm not a blind supporter of Israel. I recognize its faults/mistakes. But hardly an evil empire. And back to the US...someone said the US launched two illegal wars??? Say whatever you want about Iraq, but given the deaths of 3000 US civilians on September 11, I'd put Afghanistan in the "provoked/justified" category. Show me a country that wouldn't respond militarily to that. I can't believe the brainwashing I'm reading.

I had falsely assumed that foreignpolicy.com was a place to go to understand more about foreign policy of the US and to learn more about other countries of the world. This article is 99% personal propaganda. The lies are not only in the things stated but also in the obvious omissions. Obama is running Guantanamo and other prisons around the world, set in place a program of targeted assassination which includes American citizens, conducting 2 wars of aggression, ordered the coup d'etat of a democratically elected government (Honduras) and allowed thousands of people in Haiti to die or develop gangrene (amputations) because his marine thugs turned away planeloads of food, medical equipment, heavy equipment and medical personnel. This includes at least 5 planeloads of Doctors Without Borders. So where is Obama on this stupid list?

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Do not call my president Isaias Afeworki a dictator, it is an insult to me and all Eritreans. How dare you think that we would stand to be dictate it? Eritreans would not stand for Ethiopian, American, British and Russian oppression let alone one of our own. Eritrea does have compulsory military and so does Israel, it is called self-reliance We are a proud and hard working people who happen to be located in a horrible neighborhood. Eritrea has an AIDS rate that is less then 1.5% , we have met all of our millennium goals, we have eradicated malaria, women are NOT oppresses, our life expectancy is over 70 years of age, and we have done all of this without begging. You may want to check out One Childhood by the World Bank to get a peek at who maters most to the government of Eritrea.The U.S is currently supporting a government in Somalia that it called a terrorists just 4 years-ago when they were based is Asmara. The so-called terrorist you refer to in Somalia are only defined as so when they do not work with the U.S. If they play nice all of a sudden they are statesmen. Ethiopia is allowed to support a faction of Somalia, the U.S,is allowed to support a faction in Somalia, only Eritrea is not allowed to? Let me remind you sir that Eritrea and Somalia were 2 of Italy's 3 colonies and share a long and strong bond. Our leaders all traveled with Somalian passports during our war with Ethiopia. We consider ALL Somalians to be our brothers. Eritrea has refused to play the game and for that we are vilified but I would bet you any amount of money that Eritrea is the finest and safest nation in Africa. The so-called journalists you speak of, please do some basic research before you define them as such. If you look at history , even of your own country, you will see that journalists and missionaries are usually the way that covert operates usually infiltrate a country. I suppose Eritrea could have multi-party elections like ethiopia just had, were the epitome of democracy. Eritrea and its people, government and president are incorruptible. BTW look at the index of failed states and see where Eritrea ranks

The days of dictators the US had to support during the Cold War, such Marcos in the Philippines, Sukarno in Indonesia, Park Chung Hee in Korea and several others in S America are well past. Those tyrants necessarily counterbalanced pro-Soviet dictators in other parts of the world, such as Kim Il Sung of N Korea and a police lineup/parade of Soviet supported police state dictators in Eastern Europe. Despite Saddam Hussien 's receiving some certain US assistance during the war he initiated against the ayatollahs of Iran, Saddam was allied with the Soviets and, at the time of the 1991-92 Gulf War, had the top of the line Soviet military equipment and the best Soviet trainers of the large but uninspired and feeble Iraqi military of the demolished tyrant Saddam.

Now comes the absolute monarch King Abdullah of the Saud family that controls Saudi Arabia and which propagates worship of the tangental Islam of Wahabbism. Saudi Arabia, unlike the Philippines, Indonesia, S Korea et al will not accept US tutelage towards democracy. Indeed, it's been pointed out extensively that Abdullah, rather than being a reformer even within the monarchical system, is only reinforcing the Saud royal dynasty's control over the increasingly restless and hugely young population of his own country. This sounds a bit like the theocracy of Iran but for the fact Iran is Shiite and SA is Sunny (but getting very cloudy, while the Shiites become Shiiter).

Obama has a tightrope to tread in dealing with King Abdullah. The US is less dependent on Saudi Arabia for oil and for diplomatic or military support, and Obama's appeals to the Muslim world resonates more with the mass of young Muslims more than it does with the elite and exclusive royalty of absolute monarchs or emirs or sheiks of the Middle East.

Obama can curtsy to the emperor of Japan, a longtime and vital US ally in East Asia/Pacific, or nod to some other nebulous royalty, or be respectful of the US ally King Abdullah of Jordan, but the more distance he puts between himself and the likes of the absolute monarch Abdullah of Saudi Arabia the better for the United States and for the fact that the realities of political economy are that democracy is of equal or greater importance to oil.

Obama and US interests abroad have less reason, if any, to support or to solicit the goodwill of the likes of an absolute monarch such as Abdullah or an intolerant future Mugabe Chavez than the US and its previous presidents have ever had.

It isn't the absolute monarchs and other royalty of the Middle East to whom Pres Obama speaks or attracts to this message that the United States is an inclusive society which is upwardly mobile, far more egalitarian than than absolutist Muslim monarchies, is truly democratic, and offers opportunities of economics and personal freedom the subjects of royal rulers could and would ever allow.

The coddling of Saudi Arabia is a thing of the past, and other Middle East monarchs, emirs, sultans, sheiks and the like would do well to take notice of the fact. As in the United States, where Obama represents the future of the country, the future of the Middle East lies with its massive and disregarded younger generations who are limited and restricted by traditional values, attitudes, mores and customs.

It saddens me that most of this so-called bad guys are from Africa, but the question that really need to ask ourselves is that. Why are they bad and who is behind them? Until the whole world is able to accept that, the fucking USA, Britain and the rest of the big western nations are the people that are driving the cruelty of these so called bad guys.
This is the real list of the bad guys that no one want you to know.
At present 1. OBAMA 2. THE POPE 3..........

If you want a full list, find a way to contact me and I will provide you with the rest.
If you leave the people you call bad guys alone, they will also leave you alone.

See Mr. Ayittey... While I do respect your work - and probably will if I ever care enough to get to know it - I believe you should be more careful with the stuff you write. Your article has already made its way through many major media outlets all over the planet, specially in what you'd call "the free world".

As dangerous as dictators and oppressive regimes, it's a dumbifying media. We all cherish freedom of speech, but as many commentators here have pointed out, some with really good arguments, your work on this article was shallow to say the least - biased to say it properly.

I, for one, came to know about this "list" on the website of the major newspaper in my country. Of course, they did not have any information about the author. Or Foreign Policy. So people will think there's some actually good information here, when obviously there is not.

Had I known before that you sir, and the supposedly non-partisan FP, are holding hands with the Reagan-y The Heritage Foundation, I wouldn't have wasted all this time reading things that any teabagger could tell me.

Of course, the leftist media on the US sometimes is obsessively unfair to Israel. But I kinda expect that when I watch MSNBC or read The Huffington Post.

Show your face, Mr. Ayittey. Show your face, Foreign Policy.

Wear your teabagger's helmet with pride, and never go out on the street without it! [As you may hurt yourself, you know]

Worst of the worst????

You missed the US and Israel and there are none with a worse record than Israel!

What you ought to have headed this is: those annoying bastards who have successfully defied the US!

This stood out like a cyst:

"A pretentious despot trying to fit into his father's shoes (they're too big for him), Assad has squandered billions on foreign misadventures in such places as Lebanon and Iraq while neglecting the needs of the Syrian people."

I am so glad to live in a country that puts the needs of its people before any foreign misadventures in Iraq and Lebanon (well, mainly Iraq). Military budgets that could be spent on hardware have been put into healthcare.

What I don't understand is why these despots have to steal so much from their people?
I mean, why don't they just set a limit, like $50 million. Why do they need hundreds of millions? It just baffles me to no end.

Mr BIYA may not be the best leader Cameroon deserves. But I doubt if Ayittey's words fittingly describe him. Being a dictator takes a great deal of wisdom and political maneuvring anyway. And Mr Biya has both. The shortsightedness of Mr Ayittey and the underlying motives of his article testify to his own mediocrity. What about America and Israel whose armed forces assault and kill unarmed civilians? Cameroonians know what is good for them and the timing of a decisive regime change. For the moment, Mr Biya is in charge. And we expect him to prove his opponents wrong.

How can such an repport omit Angola and Jose Eduardo dos Santos who is a copy of Mubarack and or Mugabe? Are u affraid of loosing your oil contracts?
The DRC is also another one like Congo Brazzaville

Dos Santos has been killing oposition Leaders and excludes who ever is not in his mpla pro-comunist ruling party or genuine Angolans.

All Country's wealth feeding Corporations, Banks, Key ministries are ruled by his relatives or their spouses

The corruption is at his highest level in the army, police, public administration. It is a camuled military rule .
Amabassador, general directors, ministers, chiefs of cabinets, etc are all generals (reservists or not)

Please redo your analysis and list, because you have avoided to many dictators whose peoples are really suffering.

Or are there good and bad dictators according to you?