Editing Dictatorship (section)

== History ==
=== Early dictatorships ===
[[File:Santaanna1.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Military dictator [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] wearing a Mexican military uniform<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Fowler |first=Will |date=2015-04-02 |title=Santa Anna and His Legacy |url=https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-18 |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.18 |isbn=978-0-19-936643-9}}</ref>]]
Dictatorship is historically associated with the Ancient Greek concept of [[tyranny]], and several ancient Greek rulers have been described as "tyrants" who are comparable to modern dictators.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Papanikos |first=Gregory Τ. |date=2022 |title=The Five Ancient Criteria of Democracy: The Apotheosis of Equality |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357821988 |journal=Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=105–120 |doi=10.30958/ajha.9-2-1|s2cid=245951706 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The concept of "dictator" was first developed during the [[Roman Republic]]. A [[Roman dictator]] was a special [[Roman magistrate|magistrate]] that was temporarily appointed by the [[Roman consul|consul]] during times of crisis and granted total executive authority. The role of the dictator was created for instances when a single leader was needed to command and restore stability.<ref name=":8" /> At least 85 such dictators were chosen for the Roman Republic, the last of which was chosen to wage the [[Second Punic War]]. The dictatorship was revived 120 years later by [[Sulla]] after his [[Sulla's civil war|crushing]] of a populist movement, and 33 years after that by [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Mark |title=Dictator: The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2021 |isbn=9780472129201 |pages=3–4}}</ref> Caesar subverted the tradition of temporary dictatorships when he was made {{lang|la|[[dictator perpetuo]]}}, or a dictator for life, which led to the creation of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeev |first=Miriam Pucci Ben |date=1996 |title=When was the title "Dictator perpetuus" given to Caesar ? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41658953 |journal=L'Antiquité Classique |volume=65 |pages=251–253 |doi=10.3406/antiq.1996.1259 |jstor=41658953 |issn=0770-2817}}</ref> The rule of a dictator was not necessarily considered tyrannical in Ancient Rome, though it has been described in some accounts as a "temporary tyranny" or an "elective tyranny".<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Kalyvas |first=Andreas |date=2007 |title=The Tyranny of Dictatorship: When the Greek Tyrant Met the Roman Dictator |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0090591707302208 |journal=Political Theory |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=412–442 |doi=10.1177/0090591707302208 |s2cid=144115904 |issn=0090-5917}}</ref>

Asia saw several military dictatorships during the [[Post-classical history|post-classical era]]. Korea experienced military dictatorships under the rule of [[Yeon Gaesomun]] in the 7th century<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Baik |title=A New History of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674615762 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=48 |language=en |translator-last=Wagner |translator-first=Edward W. |translator-last2=Shultz |translator-first2=Edward J.}}</ref> and under the rule of the [[Goryeo military regime]] in the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Baik |title=A New History of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674615762 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=139–154 |language=en |translator-last=Wagner |translator-first=Edward W. |chapter=Rule by the Military |translator-last2=Shultz |translator-first2=Edward J.}}</ref> [[Shogun]]s were ''de facto'' military dictators in Japan beginning in 1185 and continuing for over six hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shinoda |first=Minoru |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/shin93498/html |title=The Founding of the Kamakura Shogunate 1180–1185. With Selected Translations from the Azuma Kagami |date=1960-03-02 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-89400-5 |pages=3–4 |language=en |doi=10.7312/shin93498}}</ref> During the [[Lê dynasty]] of Vietnam between the 16th and 18th centuries, the country was under ''de facto'' military rule by two rival military families: the [[Trịnh lords]] in the north and the [[Nguyễn lords]] in the south.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McLeod |first1=Mark W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2TerRF1j74C |title=Culture and Customs of Vietnam |last2=Nguyen |first2=Thi Dieu |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-30485-9 |pages=18 |language=en}}</ref> In Europe, the [[Commonwealth of England]] under [[Oliver Cromwell]], formed in 1649 after the [[Second English Civil War]], has been described as a military dictatorship by its contemporary opponents and by some modern academics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woolrych |first=Austin |date=1990 |title=The Cromwellian Protectorate: A Military Dictatorship? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24420972 |journal=History |volume=75 |issue=244 |pages=207–231 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1990.tb01515.x |jstor=24420972 |issn=0018-2648}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodlad |first=Graham |title=Oliver Cromwell |year=2007 |isbn=9786612040436 |pages=22 |quote=It would forever attach the label–however unjustified–of 'military dictator' to Cromwell's reputation.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Bychowski |first1=Gustav |last2=Bychowski |first2=Gustaw |date=1943 |title=Dictators and Their Followers: A Theory of Dictatorship |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24725069 |journal=Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=455–457 |jstor=24725069 |issn=0376-2327}}</ref> [[Maximilien Robespierre]] has been similarly described as a dictator while he controlled the [[National Convention]] in France and carried out the [[Reign of Terror]] in 1793 and 1794.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Marik |first=Soma |title=Robespierre, Maximilien de (1758-1794) |date=2009-04-20 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1264 |encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest |pages=1–5 |editor-last=Ness |editor-first=Immanuel |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1264 |isbn=978-1-4051-9807-3 |access-date=2022-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Minchul |date=2015-10-03 |title=The many Robespierres from 1794 to the present |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2015.1029729 |journal=History of European Ideas |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=992–996 |doi=10.1080/01916599.2015.1029729 |s2cid=144194413 |issn=0191-6599}}</ref>

Dictatorship developed as a major form of government in the 19th century, though the concept was not universally seen pejoratively at the time, with both a tyrannical concept and a quasi-constitutional concept of dictatorship understood to exist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prieto |first=Moisés |title=Dictatorship in the Nineteenth Century: Conceptualisations, Experiences, Transfers |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=9780367457174 |edition=1st |chapter=Introduction |doi=10.4324/9781003024927 |s2cid=237768077}}</ref> In Europe it was often thought of in terms of [[Bonapartism]] and [[Caesarism]], with the former describing the military rule of [[Napoleon]] and the latter describing the imperial rule of [[Napoleon III]] in the vein of Julius Caesar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Richter |first=Melvin |date=2005 |title=A Family of Political Concepts: Tyranny, Despotism, Bonapartism, Caesarism, Dictatorship, 1750-1917 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474885105052703 |journal=European Journal of Political Theory |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=221–248 |doi=10.1177/1474885105052703 |s2cid=143577539 |issn=1474-8851}}</ref> The [[Spanish American wars of independence]] took place in the early-19th century, creating many new [[Latin America]]n governments. Many of these governments fell under the control of ''[[caudillo]]s'', or personalist dictators. Most caudillos came from a military background, and their rule was typically associated with pageantry and glamor. Caudillos were often nominally constrained by a constitution, but the caudillo had the power to draft a new constitution as he wished. Many are noted for their cruelty, while others are honored as national heroes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Charles E. |date=1932 |title=The Age of the Caudillos: A Chapter in Hispanic American History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506672 |journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=281–300 |doi=10.2307/2506672 |jstor=2506672 |issn=0018-2168}}</ref>

=== Interwar dictatorships and World War II ===

==== Europe ====
{{See also|European interwar dictatorships}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-16196, Nürnberg, Reichsparteitag, SA- und SS-Appell.jpg|thumb|The [[Nuremberg rallies]] celebrated [[fascism]] and the rule of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.<ref>{{Citation |last=Orlow |first=Dietrich |title=Europe Will be a Fascist Europe: July 1934–May 1936 |date=2009 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230617926_4 |work=The Lure of Fascism in Western Europe: German Nazis, Dutch and French Fascists, 1933–1939 |page=62 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230617926_4 |isbn=978-0-230-61792-6 |access-date=2022-12-19}}</ref>]]
In the time between [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], several dictatorships were established in Europe through coups which were carried out by [[Far-left politics|far-left]] and [[Far-right politics|far-right]] movements.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=1}} The aftermath of World War I resulted in a major shift in European politics, establishing new governments, facilitating internal change in older governments, and redrawing the boundaries between countries, allowing opportunities for these movements to seize power.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=5}} The societal upheaval caused by World War I and the unstable peace it produced further contributed to the instability that benefited extremist movements and rallied support for their causes. Far-left and far-right dictatorships used similar methods to maintain power, including [[cult of personality]], [[concentration camps]], [[forced labour]], [[mass murder]], and [[genocide]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last1=Besier |first1=Gerhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wmMxBwAAQBAJ |title=European Dictatorships: A Comparative History of the Twentieth Century |last2=Stokłosa |first2=Katarzyna |date=2014-01-03 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-5521-1 |pages=1–4 |language=en}}</ref>

The first [[communist state]] was created by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Bolsheviks]] with the establishment of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] during the [[Russian Revolution]] in 1917. The government was described as a [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] in which power was exercised by [[Soviet (council)|soviets]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=34–36}} The Bolsheviks consolidated power by 1922, forming the [[Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=48–50}} Lenin was followed by [[Joseph Stalin]] in 1924, who consolidated total power and implemented totalitarian rule by 1929.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=55}}{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=59–60}} The Russian Revolution inspired a [[Revolutions of 1917–1923|wave of left-wing revolutionary movements]] in Europe between 1917 and 1923, but none saw the same level of success.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Stephen C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnLI8ooHHPgC |title=Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917-23 |date=1988 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-1153-3 |editor-last=Schmitt |editor-first=Hans A. |pages=238 |language=en |chapter=Crisis, War, and Revolution in Europe, 1917–23}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-11500-0497, Berlin, Karl-Marx-Allee, Denkmal Stalin.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Statue of Joseph Stalin, Berlin|Statue of Stalin]] in [[East Berlin]], 1951. It was removed in 1961 as part of [[de-Stalinization]].]]
At the same time, nationalist movements grew throughout Europe. These movements were a response to what they perceived as [[decadence]] and [[societal decay]] due to the changing social norms and race relations brought about by [[liberalism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fuentes Codera |first=Maximiliano |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-22411-0 |title=Reactionary Nationalists, Fascists and Dictatorships in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Springer |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-030-22411-0 |editor-last=Saz |editor-first=Ismael |pages=67–68 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-22411-0 |s2cid=214435541 |editor-last2=Box |editor-first2=Zira |editor-last3=Morant |editor-first3=Toni |editor-last4=Sanz |editor-first4=Julián}}</ref> [[Fascism]] developed in Europe as a rejection of liberalism, [[socialism]], and [[modernism]], and the first fascist political parties formed in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=De Grand |first=Alexander J. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203320761/fascist-italy-nazi-germany-alexander-de-grand |title=Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The 'Fascist' Style of Rule |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=9780203320761 |pages=11 |doi=10.4324/9780203320761}}</ref> Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] seized power in 1922, and began implementing reforms in 1925 to create the first fascist dictatorship.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=114–115}} These reforms incorporated totalitarianism, fealty to the state, [[expansionism]], [[corporatism]], and [[anti-communism]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=122–124}} Several right-wing dictatorships also emerged in the [[Balkans]] and the [[Baltic states]] during the interwar period.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=333–342}}

[[Adolf Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Party]] created a second fascist dictatorship in Germany in 1933,{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=178–179}} obtaining absolute power through a combination of electoral victory, violence, and emergency powers.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=186–188}} Other nationalist movements in Europe established dictatorships based on the fascist model.<ref name=":10" /> During World War II, Italy and Germany [[German-occupied Europe|occupied]] several countries in Europe, imposing fascist [[puppet state]]s upon many of the countries that they invaded.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gildea |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcSvAwAAQBAJ |title=Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe |last2=Wieviorka |first2=Olivier |last3=Warring |first3=Anette |date=2006-06-01 |publisher=Berg |isbn=978-1-84788-224-0 |pages=1 |language=en}}</ref> After being defeated in World War II, the far-right dictatorships of Europe collapsed, with the exceptions of [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] and [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal]]. The Soviet Union occupied nationalist dictatorships in the east and replaced them with communist dictatorships, while others established liberal democratic governments in the [[Western Bloc]].<ref name=":10" />

==== Latin America ====
Dictatorships in Latin America were developed late into the 19th century and persisted into the 20th century like the [[Porfiriato]] of Mexico,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=de Planque |first1=Louis |last2=Jackson |first2=William Henry |last3=Underwood |first3=Underwood & |last4=Gómez |first4=Emilio Vázquez |last5=Service |first5=Bain News |last6=Magazine |first6=Pearson's |last7=American Press Association |first7=New York |last8=Bain |first8=George Grantham |last9=Casasola |first9=Agustín V. |title=Mexico During the Porfiriato - The Mexican Revolution and the United States {{!}} Exhibitions  |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mexican-revolution-and-the-united-states/mexico-during-the-porfiriato.html |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref> and further military coups established new regimes, often in the name of [[nationalism]].{{Sfn|Galván|2012|p=7}} After a brief period of democratization, Latin America underwent a rapid transition toward dictatorship in the 1930s.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Costa Pinto |first=António |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-46831-6 |title=Beyond the Fascist Century |publisher=Springer |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-46831-6 |editor-last=Iordachi |editor-first=Constantin |pages=235–240 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-46831-6 |s2cid=242646807 |editor-last2=Kallis |editor-first2=Aristotle}}</ref> [[Populism|Populist]] movements were strengthened following the economic turmoil of the [[Great Depression]], producing populist dictatorships in several Latin American countries.{{Sfn|Galván|2012|p=10}} European fascism was imported to Latin America as well, and the [[Vargas Era]] of Brazil was heavily influenced by the corporatism practiced in fascist Italy.<ref name=":11" />

=== Cold War dictatorships ===
==== Africa ====
[[File:Prins Bernhard in Zaire (voorheen Belgisch Congo), Bernhard en Mobutu, Bestanddeelnr 926-6037.jpg|thumb|[[Mobutu Sese Seko]], Zaire's longtime dictator]]
Many dictatorships formed in Africa, with most forming after countries gained independence during [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonisation]]. [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a dictator for decades, renaming it [[Zaire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schatzberg |first=Michael G |date=1997 |title=Beyond Mobutu: Kabila and the Congo |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/16852 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=70–84 |doi=10.1353/jod.1997.0065 |s2cid=154740659 |issn=1086-3214}}</ref> [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]] has ruled Equatorial Guinea as a dictator since he led a military coup in 1979.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Sá |first1=Ana Lúcia |last2=Rodrigues Sanches |first2=Edalina |date=2021 |title=The politics of autocratic survival in Equatorial Guinea: Co-optation, restrictive institutional rules, repression, and international projection |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |journal=African Affairs |volume=120 |issue=478 |pages=78–102 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |issn=0001-9909|hdl=10071/22003 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 1973, King [[Sobhuza II]] of Swaziland suspended the constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maroleng |first=Chris |date=2003-01-01 |title=Swaziland |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |journal=African Security Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=45–48 |doi=10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |s2cid=218646255 |issn=1024-6029}}</ref> [[Samuel Doe]] established a military dictatorship in Liberia in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gershoni |first=Yekutiel |date=1997 |title=War Without End and An End to A War: The Prolonged Wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone* |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/war-without-end-and-an-end-to-a-war-the-prolonged-wars-in-liberia-and-sierra-leone/81265BA4275163818E309F70A78715E8 |journal=African Studies Review |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=55–76 |doi=10.2307/524966 |jstor=524966 |s2cid=144782596 |issn=0002-0206}}</ref> Libya was ruled by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] for several decades following [[1969 Libyan coup d'état|a military coup]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Schnelzer |first=Nadine |title=From the Monarchy to the Fall of Gaddafi |date=2016 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |work=Libya in the Arab Spring: The Constitutional Discourse since the Fall of Gaddafi |pages=31–39 |editor-last=Schnelzer |editor-first=Nadine |place=Wiesbaden |publisher=Springer Fachmedien |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |isbn=978-3-658-11382-7 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> [[Moussa Traoré]] ruled as a dictator in Mali.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Imperato |first=PJ |date=1991 |title=Mali: Downfall of a Dictator |journal=Africa Report |volume=36 |issue=4}}</ref> [[Habib Bourguiba]] ruled as a dictator in Tunisia until he was deposed by a coup led by [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]] in 1987, who in turn ruled as a dictator until the [[Tunisian Revolution]] in 2011.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cavatorta |first1=Francesco |last2=Haugbølle |first2=Rikke Hostrup |date=2012-07-01 |title=The End of Authoritarian Rule and the Mythology of Tunisia under Ben Ali |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |journal=Mediterranean Politics |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=179–195 |doi=10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |s2cid=143828270 |issn=1362-9395}}</ref> [[Robert Mugabe]] ruled as a dictator in Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=James R. |url= |title=Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe |last2=Wiener |first2=Roberta |date=2007-09-01 |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |isbn=978-0-8225-7283-1 |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref>

Early socialist dictatorships in Africa mainly developed as personalist dictatorships, in which a single socialist would take power instead of a ruling party. Later in the Cold War, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Africa as Marxist-Leninist dictatorships developed in several African countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ottaway |first=Marina S. |title=The African State in Transition |year=1987 |isbn=9780333415665 |editor-last=Ergas |editor-first=Zaki |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-18886-4_8}}</ref> One-party Marxist states in Africa included [[People's Republic of Angola|Angola]] under the [[MPLA]], [[People's Republic of Benin|Benin]] under [[Mathieu Kérékou]], Cape Verde under the [[PAICV]], the [[People's Republic of the Congo|Congo]] under the [[Congolese Party of Labour]], [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]] under the [[Workers' Party of Ethiopia]], [[Democratic Republic of Madagascar|Madagascar]] under [[Malagasy Revolutionary Party|AREMA]], [[People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]] under [[FRELIMO]], and [[Somali Democratic Republic|Somalia]] under [[Siad Barre]].
[[File:Communist rally in Meskel Square.jpg|thumb|A communist rally in [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]], during the country's period of Marxist dictatorship, the [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]]]]
Many African countries underwent several military coups that installed a series of military dictatorships throughout the Cold War. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda, each undergoing at least three successful military coups between 1959 and 2001.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McGowan |first=Patrick J. |date=2003 |title=African military coups d'état, 1956–2001: frequency, trends, and distribution |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/african-military-coups-detat-19562001-frequency-trends-and-distribution/C7E923CE86B78DD099FDEFAF89F1F88E |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=339–370 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X0300435X |s2cid=59497624 |issn=1469-7777}}</ref>

Some leaders of African countries abolished opposition parties, establishing one-party dictatorships. These include the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front]] in Algeria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Testas |first=A. |date=2002-12-01 |title=Political Repression, Democratization and Civil Conflict in Post-Independence Algeria |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/714000287 |journal=Democratization |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=106–121 |doi=10.1080/714000287 |s2cid=145094802 |issn=1351-0347}}</ref> the [[Chadian Progressive Party]] under [[François Tombalbaye]] in Chad,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nolutshungu |first=Sam C. |title=Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad |year=1996 |isbn=9780813916286 |pages=17|publisher=University of Virginia Press }}</ref> the [[Gabonese Democratic Party]] under [[Omar Bongo]] in Gabon,<ref>{{Citation |last=Mengara |first=Daniel |title=The Making of a Monarchical Republic: The Undoing of Presidential Term Limits in Gabon Under Omar Bongo |date=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |work=The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa |pages=65–104 |editor-last=Mangala |editor-first=Jack R. |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |isbn=978-3-030-40810-7 |s2cid=216244948 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> the [[Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally|Democratic Party]] under [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]] in Guinea, the [[Malawi Congress Party]] under [[Hastings Banda]] in Malawi,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gabay |first=Clive |date=2017-11-02 |title=The Radical and Reactionary Politics of Malawi's Hastings Banda: Roots, Fruit and Legacy |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=1119–1135 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |s2cid=149414794 |issn=0305-7070}}</ref> the [[National Movement for the Development of Society|MNSD]] under [[Ali Saibou]] in Niger,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moestrup |first=Sophia |date=1999-06-01 |title=The role of actors and institutions: The difficulties of democratic survival in Mali and Niger |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13510349908403616 |journal=Democratization |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=171–186 |doi=10.1080/13510349908403616 |issn=1351-0347}}</ref> [[National Revolutionary Movement for Development|MRND]] under [[Juvénal Habyarimana]] in Rwanda, the [[Socialist Party of Senegal|Socialist Party]] under [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] in Senegal,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Brian |chapter=Senegal |date=1992 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210_151|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210 |title=The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1992–1993 |pages=1153–1156 |editor-last=Hunter |editor-first=Brian |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230271210 |doi-broken-date=5 February 2025 |isbn=978-0-230-27121-0 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> [[Julius Nyerere]] in Tanzania, the [[Rally of the Togolese People|RPT]] under [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]] in Togo, and the [[United National Independence Party]] under [[Kenneth Kaunda]] in Zambia. The [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] in Kenya ruled under a ''de facto'' one-party state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gertzel |first=Cherry |date=1966-11-01 |title=The provincial administration in Kenya |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14662046608447047 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=201–215 |doi=10.1080/14662046608447047 |issn=0021-9908}}</ref>

==== Asia ====
[[File:Marcos Clark Air Base cropped.jpg|thumb|left|190px|[[Ferdinand Marcos]] (pictured with his wife [[Imelda Marcos|Imelda]]) was a Philippine dictator and [[Kleptocracy|kleptocrat]]. His regime was infamous for its corruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies|title=The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions?|author=Nick Davies|date=May 7, 2016|work=The Guardian}}</ref>]]
The [[Chinese Civil War]] ended in 1949, splitting the Republic of China under [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and the People's Republic of China under [[Mao Zedong]]. Mao established the People's Republic of China as a one-party communist state under his governing ideology of [[Maoism]]. While the People's Republic of China was initially aligned with the Soviet Union, relations between the two countries [[Sino-Soviet split|deteriorated]] as the Soviet Union underwent [[de-Stalinization]] in the late-1950s. Mao consolidated his control of the People's Republic of China with the [[Cultural Revolution]] in the 1960s, which involved the destruction of all elements of capitalism and traditionalism in China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mitter |first=Rana |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=China and the Cold War |pages=124–140 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292914289 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0008|isbn=978-0199236961 }}</ref> [[Deng Xiaoping]] took power as the ''de facto'' leader of China after Mao's death and implemented [[Chinese economic reform|reforms]] to restore stability following the Cultural Revolution and reestablish [[free market]] economics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shirk |first=Susan L. |date=1990-09-01 |title="Playing to the Provinces:" Deng Xiaoping's political strategy of economic reform |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0039-3592%2890%2990010-J |journal=Studies in Comparative Communism |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=227–258 |doi=10.1016/0039-3592(90)90010-J |issn=0039-3592}}</ref> Chiang Kai-shek continued to rule as dictator of the National government's [[rump state]] in [[Taiwan]] until he died in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=Quentin |last2=de Seta |first2=Gabriele |date=2020-07-03 |title=Must Zhongzheng fall? |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1784593 |journal=City |volume=24 |issue=3–4 |pages=627–641 |doi=10.1080/13604813.2020.1784593 |bibcode=2020City...24..627S |s2cid=221059194 |issn=1360-4813}}</ref>

Marxist and nationalist movements became popular in Southeast Asia as a response to [[European colonisation of Southeast Asia|colonial control]] and the subsequent [[Japanese colonial empire|Japanese occupation]] of Southeast Asia, with both ideologies facilitating the creation of dictatorships after World War II. Communist dictatorships in the region aligned with China following the latter's establishment as a communist state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lau |first=Albert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KiXjPZXc-wC |title=Southeast Asia and the Cold War |date=2012-07-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-29988-9 |pages=2–3 |language=en}}</ref> Three Communist dictatorships were formed in Southeast Asia: [[North Vietnam]], Laos, and [[Democratic Kampuchea|Kampuchea]]. North Vietnam conquered [[South Vietnam]] at the end of the [[Vietnam War]], and the two merged into a single Communist country. Anti-Communist dictators also ruled in the region. [[Suharto]] became dictator in Indonesia after [[Transition to the New Order|taking power]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guan |first=Ang Cheng |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=The Cold War in Southeast Asia |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292917918 |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |edition=Online |publisher=Oxford Academic |pages=230–245 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0014 |isbn=978-0-19-923696-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] ruled South Vietnam as a dictator until the [[1963 South Vietnamese coup|1963 military coup]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warner |first=Geoffrey |date=1974-12-01 |title=The united states and the fall of diem. I. The coup that never was |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10357717408444509 |journal=Australian Outlook |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=245–258 |doi=10.1080/10357717408444509 |issn=0004-9913}}</ref> [[Ferdinand Marcos]] ruled Philippines as a dictator until the [[People Power Revolution]] in 1986.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benedicto |first=Bobby |date=2021 |title=The place of the dead, the time of dictatorship: Nostalgia, sovereignty, and the corpse of Ferdinand Marcos |journal=Environment and Planning D: Society and Space |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=722–739 |doi=10.1177/02637758211013038 |issn=0263-7758 |pmc=8369899 |pmid=34421166|bibcode=2021EnPlD..39..722B }}</ref> A [[Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma|socialist military dictatorship]] was also created separately from the Communist governments in Burma until it was [[8888 Uprising|overthrown]] in 1988 and replaced by a [[State Peace and Development Council|new military dictatorship]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aung-Thwin |first1=Maureen |last2=Myint-U |first2=Thant |date=1992-01-01 |title=The Burmese ways to socialism |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01436599208420262 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=67–75 |doi=10.1080/01436599208420262 |issn=0143-6597}}</ref>

[[File:1974.-Vizita-in-Siria.-Intalnire-protocolara-1024x833.jpg|thumb|[[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] (left) attending a stage event with [[Hafez al-Assad]] (right), during his state visit to [[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]]]]

A similar phenomenon took place in [[Korea]], where [[Kim Il Sung]] created a Soviet-backed communist dictatorship in North Korea<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wintrobe |first=Ronald |date=2013-12-01 |title=North Korea as a Military Dictatorship |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/peps-2013-0036/html |journal=Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=459–471 |doi=10.1515/peps-2013-0036 |issn=1554-8597 |s2cid=154616493}}</ref> and [[Syngman Rhee]] created a US-backed nationalist dictatorship in South Korea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Quee-Young |date=1996-06-01 |title=From Protest to Change of Regime: The 4–19 Revolt and The Fall of the Rhee Regime in South Korea* |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/74.4.1179 |journal=Social Forces |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=1179–1208 |doi=10.1093/sf/74.4.1179 |issn=0037-7732}}</ref> [[Park Chung Hee]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054405,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604011708/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054405,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 4, 2011|title=Park Chung Hee |magazine=[[Time Magazine|Time]]|date=August 23, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.zum.com/articles/3701203?c=01&sc=2 |language=ko |script-title=ko:인혁당 유가족, 새누리당사 앞 항의 방문|date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> and [[Chun Doo-hwan]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Borowiec |first1=Steven |title=South Korea's ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan tries to keep low profile in his twilight years |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-south-korea-dictator-20151129-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=29 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="ATM">{{cite web |last1=Goh |first1=Da-Sol |title=Ex-S Korea dictator is belligerently unrepentant |url=https://asiatimes.com/2019/12/a-former-dictator-in-south-korea-has-yet-to-do-soul-searching-for-his-atrocities-in-the-1980s/ |website=Asia Times |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=17 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite web |last1=Sang-Hun |first1=Choe |title=Chun Doo-hwan, Ex-Military Dictator in South Korea, Dies at 90 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/world/asia/chun-doo-hwan-dead.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=23 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Scars still raw 40 years after dictator crushed South Korea uprising |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3084753/gwangju-massacre-scars-still-raw-40-years-after-dictator |website=South China Morning Post |access-date=28 March 2022 |language=en |date=17 May 2020 |quote=On May 18, 1980 demonstrators protesting against dictator Chun Doo-hwan's declaration of martial law confronted his troops and 10 days of violence ensued.}}</ref> would continue the pattern of dictatorship in South Korea until the [[June Democratic Struggle]] in 1987, which enabled the country's first free and fair elections and its subsequent democratization under [[Roh Tae Woo]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paik |first=Nak-chung |date=2007-06-04 |title=Democracy and Peace in Korea Twenty Years After June 1987: Where Are We Now, and Where Do We Go from Here? |url=https://apjjf.org/-Nak-chung-Paik/2440/article.html |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=5 |issue=6}}</ref>
The Middle East was decolonized during the Cold War, and many nationalist movements gained strength post-independence. These nationalist movements supported [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-alignment]], keeping most Middle Eastern dictatorships out of the American and Soviet spheres of influence. These movements supported [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab]] [[Nasserism]] during most of the Cold War, but they were largely replaced by [[Islamic nationalism]] by the 1980s.<ref name=":3" /> Several Middle Eastern countries were the subject of military coups in the 1950s and 1960s, including Iraq, Syria, North Yemen, and South Yemen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Be'eri |first=Eliezer |date=1982-01-01 |title=The waning of the military coup in Arab politics |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00263208208700496 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=69–128 |doi=10.1080/00263208208700496 |issn=0026-3206}}</ref> A [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|1953 coup]] overseen by the American and British governments restored [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] as the absolute monarch of Iran, who in turn was overthrown during the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979 that established [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] as the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] under a Shia [[Islamism|Islamist]] government, with [[Ali Khamenei]] taking over after Khomeini's death.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Yaqub |first=Salim |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=The Cold War and the Middle East |pages=246–264 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292918670 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0015|isbn=978-0199236961 }}</ref>

==== Europe ====
[[File:El Caudillo y Rafael L. Trujillo en una demostración 1.jpg|thumb|Spanish dictator [[Francisco Franco]] with [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]], 1954]]
[[António de Oliveira Salazar]] became Prime Minister of Portugal in 1932 and established the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|''Estado Novo'']].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=305–306}} [[Francisco Franco]] took power in Spain after leading the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]] to victory in the [[Spanish Civil War]] and became a dictator in 1939.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=297–298}}

During World War II, many countries of Central and Eastern Europe had been occupied by the Soviet Union. When the war ended, these countries were incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviet Union exercised control over their governments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iordachi |first1=Constantin |last2=Apor |first2=Péter |date=2013-01-01 |title=Introduction: Studying Communist Dictatorships: From Comparative to Transnational History |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/eceu/40/1-2/article-p1_1.xml |journal=East Central Europe |language=en |volume=40 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–35 |doi=10.1163/18763308-04001016 |issn=1876-3308}}</ref> [[Josip Broz Tito]] declared a communist government in Yugoslavia during World War II, which was initially aligned with the Soviet Union. The relations between the countries were strained by Soviet attempts to influence Yugoslavia, leading to the [[Tito–Stalin split]] in 1948.{{Sfn|Staar|1982|pp=230–232}} Albania was established as a communist dictatorship under [[Enver Hoxha]] in 1944. It was initially aligned with Yugoslavia, but its alignment shifted throughout the Cold War between Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and China.{{Sfn|Staar|1982|pp=1–2}} The stability of the Soviet Union weakened in the 1980s. The Soviet economy became unsustainable, and communist governments lost the support of intellectuals and their population in general. In 1989, the Soviet Union was [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolved]], and communism was abandoned by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe through a series of [[Revolutions of 1989|revolutions]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Schöpflin |first=George |date=1990-01-01 |title=The end of communism in Eastern Europe |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2622187 |journal=International Affairs |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=3–16 |doi=10.2307/2622187 |jstor=2622187 |issn=0020-5850}}</ref>

==== Latin America ====
Military dictatorships remained prominent in Latin America during the Cold War, though the number of coups declined starting in the 1980s. Between 1967 and 1991, 12 Latin American countries underwent at least one military coup, with Haiti and Honduras experiencing three and Bolivia experiencing eight.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dix |first=Robert H. |date=1994 |title=Military Coups and Military Rule in Latin America |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095327X9402000307 |journal=Armed Forces & Society |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=439–456 |doi=10.1177/0095327X9402000307 |s2cid=144439768 |issn=0095-327X}}</ref> A one-party communist dictatorship was formed in Cuba when the dictatorship of [[Fulgencio Batista]], weakened by an American arms embargo against his regime, was overthrown in the [[Cuban Revolution]], creating the only Soviet-backed dictatorship in the western hemisphere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Hugh |date=1987 |title=Cuba: The United States and Batista, 1952-58 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/wrldaf149&id=183&div=&collection= |journal=World Affairs |volume=149 |issue=4 |pages=169–175}}</ref> To maintain power, Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] organized [[Operation Condor]] with other South American dictators to facilitate cooperation between their respective intelligence agencies and secret police organizations.<ref name=":32">{{Cite magazine |date=1999-03-19 |title=Operation Condor Haunts Bolivian President Hugo Banzer |magazine=NotiSur |publisher=University of New Mexico |issn=1060-4189}}</ref>

=== 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>