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Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators
By
David Wallechinsky & Amy Wallace
The 20 \"worst living dictators\" discussed here include Kim Jong-il, North Korea; King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia; Muammar al--Qaddafi, Libya; Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe; and Fidel Castro, Cuba. Wallechinsky offers comprehensive profiles of these tyrants, labeling, for example, government-approved chaos, economic bungling, human-rights violations, torture, censorship, and forced labor. But wait--the twenty-first is George W. Bush! He\'s not a dictator, the author assures us, but he points out that Bush\'s foreign policy is based on unilateralism, and his domestic policy is based on helping large corporations. Wallechinsky believes that the president\'s war on terrorism is an excuse to commit human-rights abuses, and he details what he calls government corruption and transparency. He discusses such subjects as the government\'s arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of fair public trials, and torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment. Liberals will relish this book; right-wing conservatives probably will not.
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