Dictators tend to be dab hands at branding - of themselves in particular. Hugh Pearman on how rulers from Benito Mussolini to Turkmenbashi have become the trademarks of their nations
Everyone hates a dictator, don't they? So why are they so successful, as a breed? Why are there always so many of them and why do they generally rule for so long? We've seen recently how fragile their real position is, once their subjects decide that time is up. But it takes many, many years to get to that point. Everyone always explains this by mentioning the ruthless suppression of dissent, the careful nurturing of a favoured elite who stand to lose everything if the leader is usurped, and so forth. But nobody ever mentions design. This is not just important. It is vital if you are to stay in power.
All successful despots, from Benito Mussolini to Kim Jong-il by way of Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein, always took great care to become...