autocrat

You do not have to agree with Freedom House's precise methodology to agree that the autocrats have had the upper hand.

But it was hard enough to negotiate a compromise when the autocrats were in charge. Finding one the masses accept will be harder still.

Whatever else the British Government did, it was not going to repudiate its debts in the manner of Continental autocrats.

When things go swimmingly, few people seem to mind being run by benevolent autocrats. When things get sticky, they are less obliging.

Mr Mubarak, like the rest of the Arab world's autocrats, will be pondering the despot's eternal dilemma.

And, knowing this, the reliable old autocrats thought all they needed to do to stay safely on their perches was to wait Mr Bush out.

But it was hard enough to negotiate a compromise when the autocrats were in charge.

Autocrats know that opening the door to democracy a bit risks letting the mutinous masses barge the whole way in.

The global divisions between the club of autocrats and the axis of democracy have broad implications for the international system.

At least, you hear these pundits say, the autocrats get things done.

Why indeed have they dealt with autocrats and kings across the Middle East only to see the people rise up?

And without autocrats to deter illegal migrants, countries will have to rethink their immigration policies.

However, autocrats are sometimes so surprised when someone dares to stand up to them that they can be shocked into taking note.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision to reclaim the presidency of Russia comes in a bad year for autocrats.

The old autocrats deprived their people of freedom and opportunity; and the stability they promised, it is now clear, could not endure.

The Arab Spring triggers popular rebellions against autocrats across the Arab world.

All autocrats are not bad, as some neoconservatives are proclaiming, and should not be overthrown.

Autocrats that look to extend their mandate beyond their death by leaving in power their son or brother run afoul of this adage.

Autocrats, even more than most people, "hate to be blindsided, " Dufour notes.

The autocrats of the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia, are looking askance at the democratic upheavals all around them.

For too long, the US and its allies propped up autocrats for the sake of stability in the Middle East and north Africa.

But were the autocrats right all along? In the wake of revolution, Islamist movements have been gaining ground.

Ms Merkel, though readier to be blunt with autocrats, nurtures Germany's honest-broker role.

That Huang Zong-xi exposed and criticized the autocrats endangering people has general significance, it makes the oppressed resonant easily.

Most importantly, the past errors of reinforcing military autocrats at democracy's expense must not be repeated.

As I recall, France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schr? der were mustard keen to side with the autocrats.

"It's now too easy for autocrats to get away with mounting a sham democracy, " said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

But as Mr. Assad proved, it is still a far too potent weapon for autocrats and extremists.

But autocrats rarely plan for their own removal, as the sad state of the Middle East shows.

Some African activists worry that Beijing still sometimes props up ancient autocrats like Mugabe.

The Arab world is full of autocrats who rule their countries by oppressing their people with America's blessing.

At the UN Russia has dragged its feet on sanctions against Iran and autocrats pretty much everywhere.

Most attention focused on dubious claims by autocrats that democracy was not among them.

China's human rights record has gotten worse, as its autocrats nervously watch the Middle East uprisings.

Autocrats in Beijing are contemptuous of India for its messy, indecisive democracy.

S. military officials. Plus embarrassing dirt about other U. S. -backed Arab autocrats.

Autocrats therefore need to ensure a continuing flow of benefits to their cronies.

A thought experiment sheds new light on why aging autocrats remain so hard to dislodge.

In this October 2010 photo, Qaddafi stands between three other autocrats whose regimes are teetering or have already fallen.

That put a limit on how far he dared to push the reliable old autocrats.

Autocrats need not sneer at the troubles of Western democracies.

Three days later Egypt's embattled autocrats took their country offline.

Even the Arab League, the world's biggest club of autocrats, suspended Libya's membership.

The 350m-strong Arab world is abuzz with expectation; its ageing autocrats are suddenly looking shaky.

But the idea that the Internet will spark the decline of autocrats has been proven false.

It's certainly a useful ideology for aspiring autocrats.

Two lessons emerged from these events. One is that elections, even when they are neither free nor fair, can be dangerous for autocrats.

The Arab awakening has demanded rapid decisions about whether to support or abandon friendly autocrats such as Mr Mubarak.

THE fate of the Arab world's two most important states lies in the hands of ageing autocrats.

Some autocrats, such as Mathieu Kerekou in Benin, fell relatively quickly.

China's autocrats understand that they have a bubble on their hands.

If there is a bright spot in the sea of bleakness it is that autocrats everywhere have even more to fear from 2012.

Mr Ferzat, who is from Hama, has a history of irritating Arab autocrats with his drawings.

ENGAGING WITH (AND COERCING) THE AUTOCRATS