If you think that today’s world is all about democracy, human rights, and freedoms, you live in a total illusion and you should definitely read our list of 15 countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships).
Yes, we live in the 21st century, and when you hear the word “dictator”, you probably think about World Wars, people such as Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin, and some other terrible historical events. Unfortunately, history repeats, and there are dictators even today, around us, and terrible things happen to people in some countries, although we are not aware of it often. I know that one country comes to my mind when you mention modern dictators, but without giving more references before going to the list, I recommend the article about 15 Weird North Korean Laws for Tourists.
Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock.com
According to Oxford English Dictionary, a dictator is “a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force”. This explains a lot, and dictatorship can additionally be defined as the government with the one-party political system and with quite strict and exclusive policies, with all of the decisions brought by the leader, in this case, a dictator. What you will see from the list below is that the countries ruled by dictators are usually very poor, people live on the margins, they are even threatened by force or wars, and the notion of human rights is barely present. So, how do people live there? Honestly, I don’t think they live. They simply fight for their survival, which reminded me of a great novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. If you want to enter the mind of the people ruled by a dictator, read this book where the Dominican Republic’s most feared dictator, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo is one of the leading characters. I truly recommend it, since it helped me understand the fear under which people live in countries like these. It is both; humorous and educational.
To get back to the topic, in order to get more information about the countries ruled by dictators today, or those countries which are on the way to dictatorship, the article on the PlanetRulers which provided the list of the countries that are under the authoritarian regimes or dictatorships was very helpful, and to make sure you fully understand why each of these countries is considered to be the embodiment of dictatorship, additional information are provided from various other websites and a Quora discussion was useful, too.
Get ready to hear more about the countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships).
15. Swaziland
King Mswati III
This country is the only African absolutist monarchy that remained in force even today, and its ruler, Mswati III is considered to be one of the harshest dictators. With the constitution adopted in 2006, the law on prohibition of political parties was brought, and in that way, Mswati gained the absolute power. Similarly to any other countries with dictatorships, there is a strong paradox here as well: Mswati lives in luxury, enjoys having many wives, money, and power, while the ordinary people are impoverished, sick and threatened. More than 40% of the population is infected with HIV, which speaks enough about the conditions that people live in.
14. Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Talking about Turkey as of a country on its way to dictatorship is a rather sensitive issue, and the opinions of Turkish people are completely divided in this regard. While the half of the population praises Erdogan, giving him the prophetic features, the other half is completely against his regime, not hesitating to mark him as a dictator who strives to establish a totalitarian regime. However, he remained firm even after the military coup from the last summer. These days, Turkey is having a referendum on whether they want to keep the parliamentary system or to switch to presidential. Changing the system will give even more power to Erdogan, and in that case, he would be able to remain a president until 2029. And now, let’s see what else we have in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships).
13. Equatorial Guinea
Teodoro Obiang Nguema
The story of Teodoro Obiang Nguema reaching the president seat of Equatorial Guinea that’s up next in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships) is quite an interesting one. After managing to overthrow his paranoid uncle in a military coup, he himself became a president in 1979. His rule is considered to be the harshest and most repressed rule, which is quite reflected in the fact that although the country is very rich in oil and gas, the people still live in poverty. Besides being a dictator, Nguema is also accused of being a cannibal, literally eating his enemies to obtain more power.
12. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Joseph Kabila
It is very ironic to mention a country which has the word “democratic” within its name in relation to dictatorship, but the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, is the reason why the country is on the list. He came to power in 2001, after his father had been killed, and he has been a president since then. However, there are many claims of the elections being irregular, of the controlled media and the pressure put on the people to vote him, being one of the main reasons why Congo is on its way to dictatorship.
11. Russia
Vladimir Putin
The internet is full of discussions on whether Vladimir Putin is a dictator or not, but all in all, it may be freely said that Russia is definitely one of the countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships). If you try to find out more about the press in Russia, you will see that all of them are inclined to Putin, and basically, anyone who is against ends up in jail. He introduced some brutal laws against certain groups, such as homosexuals, and he developed something like a cult of personality. Enough to think of him as of someone who has the possibility to become a dictator!
10. Zimbabwe
Robert Mugabe
Not surprisingly at all, Mugabe has been one and only president of Zimbabwe from 1987. Under his rule, Zimbabwe is considered to be one of the most corrupt and racist African countries. Similarly like all of the countries on the list, freedom of media and speech is impossible and people are starving. The biggest issue is actually the genocide that Mugabe is involved with, killing more than 20,000 people, while thousands were left homeless.
9. Eritrea
Isaias Afwerki
Remember this, Isaias Afwerki is the first, one and only president of Eritrea and this gives him a lot of space to become one of the most famous dictators today. Eritrea has the biggest record of human rights violations, including media censorship, poverty, forced labor, torture, killing, rape and many other awful things you may think about. This totalitarian regime provoked many people to raise their voices, but unfortunately, they ended up imprisoned or murdered, being one of the main features of dictatorship.
8. Sudan
Omar al-Bashir
Being the leader of the military coup in 1989, which is considered one of the cruelest coups in history, Bashir came to power and became the president of Sudan. When you mention the word “dictator”, he is probably among the first to come to mind, since he is one of those atrocious and merciless dictators today. He is involved with the civil war and genocide and is considered to be guilty of deaths of more than millions of people overall. However, he is still there, though the UN issued an international arrest warrant.
7. Rwanda
Paul Kagame
When talking about Rwanda as one of the countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships), it is inevitable to mention the 1994 genocide, being probably enough as well to mark this country as one of those with the most horrible totalitarian regimes. This was the genocide against the Tutsi by members of the Hutu when more than one million people were killed in less than 100 days. Though Kagame became the official president in 2000, he has been the de facto leader ever since, and because of the Constitution, he will be able to remain in power until 2034.
6. Cuba
Raul Castro
When his brother Fidel Castro got too old to rule the country, he decided to cede the power to his younger brother, Raul Castro, making sure that the regime will remain within the Castro family. The biggest issue within Cuba that ranks 6th in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships), and probably the best portrayal of the dictatorship is the fact that freedom of media and speech is something that people may only dream about. However, there is a slight hope for a change, since Raul Castro said he would not run the elections in 2018.
5. China
Xi Jinping
The leader of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, is also known as the “Paramount Leader”, and there are many reasons to think about this country as the country with dictatorship today. Almost as a rule, the freedom of media and the freedom of speech are completely restricted, being the reason why anyone who tries to oppose the system is heavily punished. There are many critical laws in China that ranks 5th in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships),that also confirm its dictatorship position, such as the law that enables one-party system and allows internet censorship.
4. Egypt
Abdul Fattah el-Sisi
Sisi came to power in 2013, after he overthrew the democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi in the military coup, and he is considered one of the most brutal leaders of the 21st century. To confirm the notion of him being a dictator, making Egypt the country with dictatorship today, it is enough to mention that he killed more than 800 people who protested in one day, while thousands of dissidents have been imprisoned since he came to power.
3. Belarus
Aleksandr Lukashenko
You know that someone is a dictator when he came to rule in 1994 and today, 23 years after, he is still a legit president of the country. This is the thing with Belarus, that ranks 3rd in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships) and its president-dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko. In a few words, Lukashenko is actually not a huge fan of democracy, and he does not consider that freedom of media is an important thing. Eventually, why bother with prison, when you may kill people, being the reason why death penalties are still legal in Belarus.
2. North Korea
Kim Jong-un
Following the death of his father, Kim Jong-un became North Korea’s Supreme Leader on December 17, 2011. Although there were some hopes that he would not continue ruling the same way his father did, the situation did not improve. With weird laws, day-by-day human rights violations, and nuclear weapon threats, he is considered to be one of cruelest dictators of the 21st century. And now, let’s see the number one in our list of countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships).
1. Syria
Bashar al-Assad
Many reasons brought Assad to the first place of this list of the countries with dictatorships today (or on their way to dictatorships). As you may have immediately guessed, the most important reason is actually the Syrian Civil war that started rising in 2011, becoming worse day by day, with hundred thousands of victims. Assad came to power in 2000, abandoning his career of an eye-doctor, and becoming probably the cruelest dictator of the modern age, making Syria the best example of a country with dictatorship today.
