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Monday 4th September 2006
This special report looks at the phenomenon of dictatorship in a democratising world, from the bankrupt North Korean military machine to the booming Gulf state of Dubai. Our top ten is a selection of men - there are currently no women dictators - who combine a high level of personal power with repressive practices, ranging from press censorship to fixing elections and, in the case of Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, allegedly cannibalising political opponents. There is plenty of kitsch excess - bouffant hairstyles, super-sized yachts and a fondness for khaki - and also plenty of suffering: despite a global fear of dictators running amok, the only people they tend to harm are their own.
Their misdemeanours, however, are often ignored. While North Korea's Kim Jong-il, possibly the world's cruellest autocrat, remains beyond the diplomatic pale, the west has long-standing marriages of convenience with undemocratic rulers such as Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Oil, money and information, as these leaders know, are enough to gloss over human-rights violations - even Turkmenistan's personality cult leader Saparmurat Niyazov has found European friends with the promise of cheap gas. But even without these sweeteners, the anti-dictator tide may be turning. With the results of democracy in both the Palestinian territories and Iraq proving increasingly unpalatable to western powers, "friendly" dictators can safely anticipate a welcome in from the political cold.
Worst for freedom of speech
1 Kim Jong-il, North Korea
2 Isaias Afewerki, Eritrea
3 Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
4 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran
5 Senior General Than Shwe, Burma
Source: Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index 2005
Most corrupt
1 Yoweri Museveni, Uganda
2 Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
3 Hu Jintao, China
4 Raul/Fidel Castro, Cuba
=5 Laurent Gbagbo, Ivory Coast
=5 José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola
Source: Transparency International annual report 2004. This is not a list of the most personally corrupt dictators, but a list of how much each country's population perceives corruption in government
Largest armies (active troops)
1 China 2,255,000
2 North Korea 1,106,000
3 Pakistan 619,000
4 Iran 420,000
5 Burma 375,000
Sources: Centre for Strategic and International Studies and International Institute for Strategic Studies
Military spending as percentage of GDP
1 Eritrea - 17.7
2 North Korea - 12.5 (estimate)
3 Jordan - 11.4
4 Oman - 11.4
5 Qatar - 10
Source: CIA World Factbook. GDP figures for North Korea are estimates
Longest in power (in years):
1 Cuba: Fidel Castro - 47
2 Libya: Muammar al-Gaddafi - 37
3 Gabon: Omar Bongo - 31
4 Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema - 27
5 Angola: José Eduardo dos Santos - 27
This special report looks at the phenomenon of dictatorship in a democratising world, from the bankrupt North Korean military machine to the booming Gulf state of Dubai. Our top ten is a selection of men - there are currently no women dictators - who combine a high level of personal power with repressive practices, ranging from press censorship to fixing elections and, in the case of Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, allegedly cannibalising political opponents. There is plenty of kitsch excess - bouffant hairstyles, super-sized yachts and a fondness for khaki - and also plenty of suffering: despite a global fear of dictators running amok, the only people they tend to harm are their own.
Their misdemeanours, however, are often ignored. While North Korea's Kim Jong-il, possibly the world's cruellest autocrat, remains beyond the diplomatic pale, the west has long-standing marriages of convenience with undemocratic rulers such as Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Oil, money and information, as these leaders know, are enough to gloss over human-rights violations - even Turkmenistan's personality cult leader Saparmurat Niyazov has found European friends with the promise of cheap gas. But even without these sweeteners, the anti-dictator tide may be turning. With the results of democracy in both the Palestinian territories and Iraq proving increasingly unpalatable to western powers, "friendly" dictators can safely anticipate a welcome in from the political cold.
Worst for freedom of speech
1 Kim Jong-il, North Korea
2 Isaias Afewerki, Eritrea
3 Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
4 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran
5 Senior General Than Shwe, Burma
Source: Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index 2005
Most corrupt
1 Yoweri Museveni, Uganda
2 Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan
3 Hu Jintao, China
4 Raul/Fidel Castro, Cuba
=5 Laurent Gbagbo, Ivory Coast
=5 José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola
Source: Transparency International annual report 2004. This is not a list of the most personally corrupt dictators, but a list of how much each country's population perceives corruption in government
Largest armies (active troops)
1 China 2,255,000
2 North Korea 1,106,000
3 Pakistan 619,000
4 Iran 420,000
5 Burma 375,000
Sources: Centre for Strategic and International Studies and International Institute for Strategic Studies
Military spending as percentage of GDP
1 Eritrea - 17.7
2 North Korea - 12.5 (estimate)
3 Jordan - 11.4
4 Oman - 11.4
5 Qatar - 10
Source: CIA World Factbook. GDP figures for North Korea are estimates
Longest in power (in years):
1 Cuba: Fidel Castro - 47
2 Libya: Muammar al-Gaddafi - 37
3 Gabon: Omar Bongo - 31
4 Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema - 27
5 Angola: José Eduardo dos Santos - 27
Congrats to the winners.
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