Let us be clear why this list is possible. US foreign policy is to prioritize US corporate power over the people power that only genuine democracy can nourish. That priority was challenged only once in living memory--not by any serious push for democracy but by the Bush doctrine of a new American century. Corporate power survived the challenge and is back in the saddle, riding mankind in Thoreau's memorable phrase.

All of us will have our own additions to make to this embarrassing list of governments that Washington supports for the sake of corporate power. I'll mention just two.

The most obvious omission from the list is one we needn't even name. Its highest officials are routinely found to be corrupt; it consistently consolidates an occupation it acknowledges to be illegal; it refuses to give equal rights to the most powerless of its own citizens. Incorrectly said to be the middle east's only democracy, it routinely ignores the rulings of its own highest court.

One more government belongs on the list. It needs to be named. It needs to be said out loud that the US government's support of the US government itself, in the light of its betrayal of its own values, is an embarrassment. If the government wishes to be respected once again, it needs to begin by acknowledging its own hypocrisy, and summon the courage for the hazardous journey back to the values that republican and democratic politicians have always publically espoused and citizens themselves have always believed in.

I was expecting to see Saakashvili...

King Abdullah of Jordan came to the throne in 1999, not 1993.

America is the biggest bully of the entire list, it belongs in bed with these people.

China is very oppressive and selects all its leaders from the only legal party's ranks, and appoints all legal religious figures as well. Its strange to leave it out of the picture just because its government does not center on one man. If you look at the number of people oppressed China out does this list easily all by itself, and maybe the rest of the world all by itself.

America is not even in the top 100 for being oppressive governments, and is many heads above these losers. I will say that Jordan is not the generally oppressive, there are opposition voices, they may not have power, but they are not routinely arrested. In addition, at least the King of Jordan has his economy moving forward without any oil or other natural resources.

There are so many nice idealists on here. Tell me, o' children of democracy and liberty, what exactly is the alternative to these regimes? How well has democracy worked out in places like Algeria, Gaza, Turkey, etc? How well do you think it will work out in Sudan and Egypt?

You cannot take people who have no history of exposure to Western liberal political thought, or Western Enlightenment ideals, and expect them to suddenly live in peace and harmony once given open elections. Instead many turn only to another group of thugs and extremists to rule them.

Grow up, stop being so naive, and drop the "holier than art thou" attitude.

I'd like to view from a different angle with this headline: Republic of VietNam most embarassing and dangerous Allies: America (up to 1975).
Australia, at least, honor the South Vietnamese soldiers by treating them with the same veteran status of their own soldiers and recognize their contribution to the fight for freedom and stop the communist expansion in the 60,70.
America, on the other hand, ......!
Most importantly, America has never come out clean with what actually in VietNam ( Henry Kissenger sold South VN to China)

American Empire operates through surrogates, who enforce your will on their people, regardless they like it or not. Previous empires occupied the conquered land, but your model allows you to sub contract the rule to opportunists, adventurers and scoundrels. This provides you the luxury to go on pontificating about liberty, free speech, human rights etc. But we all know that local satrap is only the plantation manager, the real slave owner lives in the Big plantation houses of white color.

Out of 8 dictator you mentioned 6 were Muslims. Now you know why they hate you.

U.S. is the home of noted terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki. He was born , studied and worked there. He worked for CIA. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in 2004.

What about Israel? That is indeed one single shameful ally, an embarrassment just like Saudi Arabia.

... ever hear how they talk with those funny accents?

Israel itself may not be a dictatorship, but its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories is atrocious.

Also the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco ... anywhere that has a persistent anti-american opposition movement that is actually democratically popular, or any nation well integrated into the world capitalist system, get a pass on democracy and the development of democratic rights.

Lastly, the US supports the drug war in colombia and mexico-though these countries are nominally democratic republics, persistent human rights abuses from the state or corrupt officials/police officers call into question just how "free" those societies really are.

Silly list. A foreign policy professional would have us believe that Israel doesn't cause the US more embarassment than most of the countries on this list.

Silly list. A foreign policy professional would have us believe that Israel doesn't cause the US more embarrassment than most of the countries on this list.

(corrected)

I find it difficult to reconcile your lumping VietNam in with the likes of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. I am a Canadian and have lived here going on for 20 years.

Prime Minister Nguyen, Tan-Dung was re-appointed for a second term following a pretty successful first term, with the exception of the government owned shipyard that dug itself a big hole in debt.

Do the people here want a change of government? I would say no, I live within the Vietnamese community with my Vietnamese wife and daughter and hear the complaints directly.

There is freedom of movement, freedom to travel and immigrate which is different to 10-15 years ago. No more leaving a family member behind as security for return or a USD$5,000 deposit!

There are generally no major complaints about the government - mainly because the population is so busy making money and enjoying a reasonable standard of living as is attested to by the approximately 4-million moptorcycles in SaiGon/Ho Chi Minh.

There are complaints about the cost of gas (world prices), the cost of food, the congestion, etc. but these are little different to any other country. We have access to products from around the world, which is more than Chinese can claim, and foreign newspapers, even those with negative comments on VietNam, are readily available on the streets without censorship. Anyone who has bought overseas newsapers in Singapore knows that the government physically cuts offending material out of international newspapers.

We can see current overseas films within a week or two of their release and very little additional censorship occurs, which occasionally surprises me. I can get over 150 channels of television on cable including many European and North American channels. Discovery, NatGeo and Animal Planet channels are delivered with Vietamese language sub-titles. What little TV censorship that occurs usually involves Iraq, North Korea and some viewpoints about the American War in VietNam.

I can call anywhere on cell phone or landline and my e-mail is delivered 'real time' and not censored. My calls don't suddenly get disconnected.

There are a few InterNet web sites that are blocked - ask any school kid and they will tell you how to adjust your computer settings - including Facebook and the rabid anti-Vietnamese web sites to be found in California and Texas. I can view CNN, even Voice of America, BBC and all the newspaper web sites from any country. Extreme 'sex' web sites are unavailable as are web sites hosting violent on-line games.

InterNet cafes do NOT have tracking software, they could care less what their clients do, as long as they pay. There is no requirement for ID and there are no cameras as is the case in China. WiFi access points mean that people can freely access the InterNet without the use of passwords.

My InterNet service, from the national, government-owned, provider would be really upset if it actually tracked the web sites I visit daily - I administer or moderate some 41 web chat rooms - as well as being part owner of a web site authoring company. We have never had a visit from Internal Security or anyone involved in regulating the InterNet.

I have a satellite InterNet feed from a Hong Kong ISP as well as satellite dishes pointed at external satellites. These require permits which are freely available for a small fee.

So there is no choice in political parties. Few of the population really care. Few of the population are party members. But there are 'opposing' voices in the National Assembly and their comments can be seen in print and on parliamentary TV channels.

VietNam regularly adjusts it's levels of acceptance of dissent. Foreigners wanting to distribute religious tracts can't without a permit but on the other hand VietNam boasts some magnificent churches that are filled each weekend. The government tightens up when there is likelyhood of foreign visitors being embarrassed or on the occasion of important meetings.

A recent ASEAN meeting was held in SaiGon and whilst security was visible it didn't disrupt daily life except for the occasional police escorted car carrying important guest prime ministers.

The religious leaders know the extent to which they can comment on government action, but how many churches in other countries criticise their governments. New, to VietNam, churches are being allowed to establish congrgations here. An external Buddhist group did lose it's permit as it did things outside it's mandate.

There are workers strikes here, even protests outside SaiGon City Hall were permitted addressing the poor compensation home owners were offered by the city for urban redevelopement which resulted in substantial increases in settlements. There is rarely 'compulsory purchase'.

Non-political blogs are rampant, both by Vietnamese and foreigners living in VietNam, hosted both within and overseas.

As for police brutality and deaths in police custody they do occur, but little more than in other countries, and much less than some.

VietNam is well integrated into the international community. Australia and the U.S. maintain police offices in the country and the DEA regularly holds training seminars here. VietNam is as intolerant of drugs as most countries.

VietNam has good military relations with the U.S. and Australian armed forces, as well as with regional powers including China.

That Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated there were "profound differences" over human rights was hypocritical considering what the U.S.A. has done in Guantanamo and the rendition program. The U.S. should clean up it's own act before making accusations against others.

VietNam jealously guards it's independence and the assault of a U.S. diplomat was no doubt a local security guy over-reacting. I don't make excuses for it, but VietNam is not alone in expressing it's annoyance with U.S. do-gooders.

My home is in an ethnic area well known for it's dissent. There are often 'rumbles' but people have to know the terminalogy. A riot is often only the ethnic locals failing to stop for a police line - a common occurrence in amny countries. Sure the local police call out water canon on occasion but given their dusty condition, as well as the military paint jobs, it is obvious they don't get used that much.

Things are naturally tighter in Ha Noi, as they are in Washington, D.C. As a visble minority I rarely bump up against Internal Security although I do have a friend who is a middle ranking officer in it. There are very few 'police stops' except for specific reasons and in 20 years I have only been 'touched' twice for bribes.

The police and other government officials do solicit bribes but the reasons are understandable. There have been several government mandated pay increases for the general population - one was 13% a couple of years ago. On every occasion government employees are exempted from these increases which means their income falls behind as the cost of living ramps up. A USD$5 donation (requested by a traffic policeman) is a reasonable deal when compared to a USD$12 fine and points.

Party bureaucrats live well and make good use of government cars. They also feel free to breach road rules, just a little more than the general population!

There must be something go right here as overseas Vietnamese, along with foreigners, are flocking here both for investment and retirement. Crime tends to be petty rather than major felonies - English language papers don't carry all the details but the Vietnamese ones do.

I am not an apologist for the Vietnamese government but there is no way this country can be equated with other dispicable countries on your list.

It isn't as though we have much choice in the matter. We could criticize those leaders and refuse to help those nations...and we can watch our influence slip away much more quickly to states that will do business with them like Russia and China.

The little sultan of baku, ilham aliyev, is another despot to add to this list. He inherited his rule from his father, also a despot, and rules azerbaijan as a personal fiefdom along with the clan which is wife comes from.

Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid and since Obama has come to office, has routinely flouted his modest requests. Many assume that Bibi is now waiting until Obama gets voted out so he can do what he wants without even the most modest slap on the wrist. If Israel is our #1 ally in the Middle East, and we pay them handsomely, why do they embarrass us?

All of these figures belong on your list, but if you're going to put on Karimov and Nazarbayev, surely Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan should be included as well for the same reasons -- he's another Central Asian dictator that the West deals with for reasons of realpolitik.

The U.S. has made deals with Turkmenistan as well to allow refueling of US planes headed to Afghanistan and the transit of non-lethal materials for NATO troops. The U.S. even unlawfully paid Turkmenistan for this privilege until it was outed, then they said they wouldn't do it any more. The U.S. has sent CENTCOM generals as well as oil and gas company executives to this country and gone through the motions of raising human rights issues, but usually very quietly.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62792

Also, there's a case to be made for putting Russia on the list, and Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister (Medvedev, his partner in the tandemocracy, as Russians call it, seems to be the "good cop" to Putin's "bad cop" in various facile understandings of Kremlin rule these days -- and maybe that's what made it hard to put in your list. The fact is he's no different than the tyrants in the list in scolding the West for lecturing him and refusing to make any compromises on democracy or human rights -- it's just that he has a Twitter account and wears jeans to his meetings in Silicon Valley when he picks up billion-dollar investments.).

Particularly since the "reset," Russia has been a partner in deals ranging from the new START agreement that just got signed to cooperation on putting pressure on Iran about its nuclear intentions. Right after START was signed, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev were handed new sentences in a case rife with due process violations which the US had repeatedly and publicly raised with the Kremlin.

The Neo-con Trinity of Bush, Blair and Howard will go down in the history of infamy, grand delusional and theistic incompetence, and right-wing Maoist cultural politics.

Many of the countries listed also execute suspected homosexuals. These alliances are offensive, and they all need to be rethought. They treat women like garbage, and they have no respect for dissent.

From the summer 2010
http://www.phibetaiota.net/2010/06/23-worst-tyrantsdictators-yes-theres-more-than-23/

2004 Ambassador Mark Palmer (US)
Achieving Universal Democracy by Eliminating All Dictators within the Decade

http://tinyurl.com/4ezyd5h

Review: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil–How to Oust the World’s Last Dictators by 2025

http://tinyurl.com/4s4qmos

The Houthi rebels, who are fiver Shiites, are found in the north of the country. There is a separate rebellion in the south, but that is not led by Shiites.

Better to be awake than sticking to fictitious friendship with ethnocentric Meles Zenawi! He has been destroying US's long and old stayed golden images that had been built with so much sacrificial lambs! Believe me or not we Ethiopians are already on tracks of rage! When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going! Be ready

Kazakhstan is not an embarassing ally for Washington, but an ally it badly needs and it deserves. What is more, the fact that the US has been so keen to cultivate ties with our president Nazarbayev, beginning with George Bush Sr., on to Clinton, Bush Jr. and now Obama, has helped steer Kazakhstan towards stability, economic development, and some tentative steps towards demcoracy. Scores of politicians, experts and reporters in Kazakhstan have repeatedly urged Washington to engage, rather than isolate Nazarbayev and the government because they feel it is to the benefit of laying a stronger foundation for democratic change down the road. The US is right to engage with Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan is right to seek stronger ties with the US, and, since neither country is perfect, there is nothing embarassing about it on either side.

And where exactly is Benjamin Netanyahu & Avigdor Lieberman on this list?

What's the most embarrassing personality trait?

Denial.

All other seven names fit their profile but not the land of Ho Chi Minh and General Giap. This may be a one party state and may not have that
close relations with China or North Korea. Instead Pakistan should have
been on the list a country with multi political and religious parties full of bigotry, corruption and nepotism supported by US Congress and Govt.

The article section regarding the Yemeni president was quite informative and interesting, however as a Yemeni, i want to clear some issue that the writer intentionally or not mi addressed. Saleh came to power in 1979, and the Unification of Yemeni was on May22, 1990. lastly, we dont have shitte movement in the south, it is in the far north of Yemen, border to Saudi Arabia. In the south we have a political movment that seek separation from the Unification and mostly motivated by old communist ideology. i hope this will help understand the political delima in Yemen.

" For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive... The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination... The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening... That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing... The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches(... )

The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well... Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious "tertiary level" educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million "college" students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen Square. Their physical energy and emotional frustration is just waiting to be triggered by a cause, or a faith, or a hatred(...)

[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people."

- Zbigniew Brzezinski

http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=56

Brezezinski wrote this in 2005. Judging from the comments here (cf also eg. the FP article by David Rothkopf "Really Bad Week: Egypt Edition") it's difficult to see that any entity - state, governmental and above all, monopoly corporate capitalist - of our present ancien regime has any reason to safe or secure.

Even the IMF is beginning to see this. Cf eg.

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/09/ramcharan.htm

(Speaking for myself, I have been re-reading Charles Tilly lately and his work on "contentious politics" lately.)

I have a terrible feeling that eg Immanuel Wallerstein is quite right when he states that periods of historical termination and transition are extremely painful and tumultuous.

However, though the outcome is inherently uncertain, these historical periods may also contain within them the seeds of great Hope.

On Ethiopia - you said ''despite evidence that the government is directly using this aid to suppress dissent.''
Hmm...
let's see what those on the ground say about it.
*********************************
DAG Statement – Human Rights Watch (HRW) report: Development without Freedom – How Aid Underwrites Repression in Ethiopia
21 October 2010

The objective of development partners in Ethiopia is to provide assistance that supports effective development and poverty reduction and that reaches its intended beneficiaries. Respect for human rights is central to our work and to sustainable development. And some members of the DAG include human rights issues regularly in their dialogue with Government.

The aid provided by members of the DAG in Ethiopia is transforming the lives of millions of poor people through basic services such as healthcare, education and water, and long-term food security. Our programmes are directly helping Ethiopia to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
We take allegations of misuse of development assistance very seriously. That is why, even before the earlier HRW report, One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure , the DAG commissioned an independent Aid Management and Utilisation Study in Ethiopia to examine the vulnerability of the programmes we support to possible misappropriation.

We do not concur with the conclusions of the recent HRW report regarding widespread, systematic abuse of development aid in Ethiopia. Our study did not generate any evidence of systematic or widespread distortion. We, nonetheless, recognize that the programmes we support are not immune to the potential for aid misuse and have therefore included safeguard measures to address these risks. These measures include a range of rigorous checks such as regular financial audits, independent evaluations, independently-commissioned surveys and field monitoring visits to make sure our aid achieves the intended development results and its benefits reach those who need them.

The DAG Aid Management and Utilization Study concluded that there are generally good accountability mechanisms and safeguards in place that provide checks on possible distortions. The study recommended, however, that safeguards could be further strengthened to include a greater focus on, for example, transparency and independent monitoring. Donors in Ethiopia are working jointly to strengthen programme-specific systems, in line with the study recommendations. And we will take forward a second stage of the DAG study to review further the effectiveness of accountability measures and safeguards on the ground and to cover other important donor-financed programmes. We believe that implementation of such measures will further reduce the potential for the type of misuses with which the HRW report was concerned.
***********************
About the Development Assistance Group (DAG)
The Development Assistance Group (DAG) comprises 26 bilateral and multilateral development agencies providing assistance to Ethiopia. The DAG was established in 2001 initially as a forum for donors to share and exchange information. The main objective of the DAG is to ensure a more effective delivery and utilization of development assistance to Ethiopia.
DAG actively works within the Paris Declaration framework of Aid Effectiveness and Harmonisation to foster and catalyze police dialogue and co-ordinate support in the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty) and the universal Millennium Development Goals.
The day to day coordination of DAG is managed by a secretariat based within UNDP Ethiopia.
List of DAG members
African Development Bank (AfDB)
Austrian Embassy Development Cooperation
Belgium Embassy
CIDA
Denmark Embassy
DFID
European Commission
Finland Embassy
French Embassy
German Embassy – German Development Cooperation
IMF
Indian Embassy
Irish Aid
Italian Cooperation
Japan Embassy
JICA
Netherlands Embassy
Norwegian Embassy
SIDA
Spain Embassy
Turkish International Cooperation Agency
UNDP
USAID
World Bank

I am not a constitutional lawyer or scholar, but I do not believe Congress has the power to give other countries our tax dollars. I've read Article I Section 8 of the constitution "Power of Congress" and it says nothing close to giving money to other countries to be our friends. They do have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;". Foreign aid is a sham and a fleecing of the American tax payer and needs to stop. It is done with corporate interests in mind and not the general welfare of the United States.

You're conveniently forgetting China's and Russia's longtime allies with admirable records of human rights violations, the DPRK, Laos, Iran and Cambodia to name a few. You don't make allies with the ally as you would have them be but the ally as they are. US influence brings some good things to countries we are allies with as well. When you've created through regulation and taxes an environment where it's cheaper to move your production offshore then you get to live with the reality of the dilemna you have created for yourself.