Editing Dictatorship (section)

=== 21st century dictatorships ===
{{further|List of countries by system of government}}
[[File:Economist_Intelligence_Unit_Democracy_Index_2024.svg|alt=|thumb|The 2024 [[Economist Intelligence Unit]] ''Democracy Index'' map
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Full democracies'''
{{Legend|#0c3091|9.00–10.00}}
{{legend|#2f5cd5|8.00–8.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Flawed democracies'''
{{legend|#6bd2df|7.00–7.99}}
{{legend|#c3eded|6.00–6.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Hybrid regimes'''
{{legend|#f9f8bb|5.00–5.99}}
{{legend|#fad45d|4.00–4.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Authoritarian regimes'''
{{legend|#da820f|3.00–3.99}}
{{legend|#a8261f|2.00–2.99}}
{{legend|#66000f|1.00–1.99}}
{{legend|#240011|0.00–0.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''No data'''
{{legend|#c0c0c0|}}
{{Col-end}}|upright=2]]

The nature of dictatorship changed in much of the world at the onset of the 21st century. Between the 1990s and the 2000s, most [[dictator]]s moved away from being "larger-than-life figures" that controlled the populace through terror and isolated themselves from the global community. This was replaced by a trend of developing a positive public image to maintain support among the populace and moderating rhetoric to integrate with the global community.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Guriev |first1=Sergei |title=Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century |last2=Treisman |first2=Daniel |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780691211411 |pages=3–29 |chapter=Fear and Spin}}</ref> In contrast to the overtly repressive nature of 20th-century dictatorships, [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] strongmen of the 21st century are sometimes labeled "[[Informational autocracy|spin dictators]]", rulers who attempt to monopolize power by authoritarian upgrading, appealing to [[Democracy|democratic]] sentiments and covertly pursue repressive measures; such as embracing modern technology, manipulation of information content, regulation of cyberspace, slandering dissidents, etc. On the other hand, a handful of dictators like [[Bashar al-Assad]] and [[Kim Jong Un]] rule with deadly repression, violence and [[State terrorism|state-terrorism]] to establish extensive securitization through fear, in line with many 20th century dictatorships.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Treisman |first1=Daniel |last2=Guriev |first2=Sergei |date=27 April 2023 |title=On the Tactics of Modern Strongmen |url=https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/on-the-tactics-of-modern-strongmen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505032450/https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/on-the-tactics-of-modern-strongmen |archive-date=5 May 2023 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref><ref name="Guriev, Treisman 2022"/>

[[File:Alexander Lukashenko in a meeting with Bashar al-Assad in December 2003 (2) (twice-cropped).jpg|thumb|Meeting between [[Syria]]n dictator [[Bashar al-Assad]] and [[Belarus]]ian autocrat [[Alexander Lukashenko]] in 2003]]

The development of the [[internet]] and [[Computer-mediated communication|digital communication]] in the 21st century have prompted dictatorships to shift from traditional means of control to digital ones, including the use of [[artificial intelligence]] to analyze mass communications, [[internet censorship]] to restrict the flow of information, and [[troll farm]]s to manipulate public opinion.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kendall-Taylor |first1=Andrea |last2=Frantz |first2=Erica |last3=Wright |first3=Joseph |date=2022-10-27 |title=The Digital Dictators |language=en-US |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-02-06/digital-dictators |access-date=2022-12-24 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref> 21st-century dictatorships regularly hold [[sham election]]s with massive approval ratings, for seeking public legitimacy and maintaining the autocrat's image as a popular figure loved by the masses. The manipulated election results are often weaponized as propaganda tools in [[information warfare]], to galvanize supporters of the dictatorships against dissidents as well as to manufacture compliance of the masses by publicizing falsified data figures. Another objective is to portray the [[dictator]] as the guardian figure who unifies the [[country]], without whom its security disintegrates and chaos ensues. [[North Korea]] is the only country in East Asia to be ruled by the [[Kim dynasty (North Korea)|Kim family]] after the death of [[Kim Il-sung]] and hands over to his son [[Kim Jong-il]] in 1994 and grandson [[Kim Jong-un]] in 2011, as of today in the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomson |first=Jonny |date=25 May 2023 |title=Why don't dictators use realistic fake numbers when rigging election results? |url=https://bigthink.com/the-present/dictator-election-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526052912/https://bigthink.com/the-present/dictator-election-results/ |archive-date=26 May 2023 |website=Big Think}}</ref>

[[File:2024 BRICS Summit (1729758533).jpg|thumb|Russia's autocratic leader [[Vladimir Putin]], China's [[Xi Jinping]], Egypt's [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]] (from r. to l.) and others at the [[16th BRICS summit]] in [[Kazan]], Russia, 24 October 2024]]

Dictatorship in Europe largely ended after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the liberalization of most communist states.<ref name=":2" /> Belarus under the rule of [[Alexander Lukashenko]] has been described as "the last European dictatorship",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutland |first=Peter |date=2006 |title=Belarus: The last dictator |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=104569 |journal=The Analyst - Central and Eastern European Review - English Edition |language=English |issue=4 |pages=59–70 |issn=1787-0364}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brel-Fournier |first1=Yuliya |last2=Morrison |first2=Minion K.C. |date=2021 |title=The Predicament of Europe's 'Last Dictator' |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22338659211018326 |journal=International Area Studies Review |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=169–192 |doi=10.1177/22338659211018326 |issn=2233-8659 |s2cid=236409309}}</ref> though the [[Russia under Vladimir Putin|rule]] of [[Vladimir Putin]] in Russia has also been described as a dictatorship.<ref name="Putin1">{{Cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Graeme |last2=Greene |first2=Samuel |date=2017 |title=The Kremlin Emboldened: How Putin Wins Support |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/671992 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=86–100 |doi=10.1353/jod.2017.0069 |issn=1086-3214 |s2cid=158185856}}</ref><ref name="Putin2">{{Cite journal |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |date=2015 |title=The Resistible Rise of Vladimir Putin: Russia's Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483492 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=140–153 |issn=0015-7120 |jstor=24483492}}</ref><ref name="Putin3">{{cite web |last=Pettypiece |first=Shannon |date=2022-04-12 |title=Biden suggests Putin is a 'dictator' who has committed 'genocide half a world away' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/12/biden-suggests-putin-is-a-dictator-who-has-committed-genocide-half-a-world-away.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=CNBC}}</ref> Latin America saw a period of liberalization similar to that of Europe at the end of the Cold War, with Cuba being the only Latin American country that did not experience any degree of liberalization between 1992 and 2010.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mainwaring |first1=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXsLAgAAQBAJ |title=Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Emergence, Survival, and Fall |last2=Pérez-Liñán |first2=Aníbal |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-19001-5 |pages=244 |language=en}}</ref> The countries of Central Asia did not liberalize after the fall of the Soviet Union, instead forming as dictatorships led by former elites of the Communist Party and then later by successive dictators. These countries maintain parliaments and human rights organizations, but these remain under the control of the countries' respective dictators.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rumer |first=Boris Z. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnXVyW1QIIYC |title=Central Asia at the End of the Transition |date=2005 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1576-3 |pages=3–4 |language=en}}</ref>

The Middle East and North Africa did not undergo liberalization during the [[third wave of democratisation]], and most countries in this region remain dictatorships in the 21st century. Dictatorships in the Middle East and Northern Africa are either illiberal republics in which a president holds power through unfair elections, or they are absolute monarchies in which power is inherited, such as [[Saudi Arabia]] under Crown Prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]]. [[Iraq]], [[Israel]], [[Lebanon]], and [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]] are the only democratic nations in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angrist |first=Michele Penner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_EgQwAACAAJ |title=Politics & Society in the Contemporary Middle East |date=2010 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=978-1-58826-717-7 |pages=6–7 |language=en}}</ref> Although [[Tunisia]] was seen as a pillar of the [[Arab Spring]] for democracy, by 2023, it was no longer classified as a democracy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/tunisia/freedom-world/2021 | title=Tunisia: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report }}</ref> [[Turkey]]'s President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] has been described by several sources as a dictator.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tisdall |first=Simon |date=19 April 2018 |title=Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: a dictator in all but name seeks complete control |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey-president-election-dictator-seeks-total-control |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>