Recipe for a Dictator

Take a tablespoon of malignant narcissism & megalomania - an inflated sense of self importance, a craving for adulation & a need for a personality cult. A mix of grandiosity, antisocial behaviour & sadism. 

Add a soupcon of paranoia & hyper vigilance. Power breeds deep suspicion & distrust of your own inner circle. Infighting among subordinates is often encouraged so no rival can challenge the dictator.

Then season with a liberal measure of lack of empathy & remorse. A cold detachment that allows human lives, mass suffering or political purges as mere ways of preserving your authority.

Over time this all becomes warped because fear & sycophancy take over the dictators environment & no one tells him the truth. He lives in an echo chamber of his own beliefs & he is insulated from reality. This leads to catastrophic miscalculations, flawed military invasions & economic policies.

Interestingly dictatorships often emerge when social, economic or political crises create a "springboard". The public are desperate for certainty, order & protection from perceived external or internal threats. The dominant male overrides normal beliefs & attitudes. In other words the populations collude with the dictator. 

No prizes for guessing who I am referring to. 

There are at least 3 current world leaders that this description fits. Putin has served as president of Russia since 2012,(24 years), having previously served from 2000 to 2008, (8 years), & served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000. A total of 33 years domination. Netenyahu  was previously in office from 1996 - 1999, (3 years), and from 2009 to 2021 (12 years), currently from 2022 - 2026 (4 years). A total of 19 years. Trump has been president twice. From 2017 - 2021, (4 years), & currently from 2025.

I would argue that these three men have been responsible for staggering crimes & misdemeanours - A total disregard for human life, complete disruption of world order & law, & destruction of swathes of infrastructure in other countries. All in pursuit of money & power for themselves & their families. They are completely without the norms of human behaviour that should determine how our most senior world leaders behave. All three should face the justice of their peers for their heinous crimes. 

But, having said all of that, unless we all speak out & stand up for rights & justice we are complicit in what they have done. The people who support & vote for them are even more complicit. A dictator does not work in isolation. A dictator needs others to keep him in power. Its like throwing a stone into a pond. The ripple effect is huge, as the tens of thousands tried after the 2nd world war showed.