The world lost a great man this week. Togo's belligerent and brutal dictator President Edayema died, aged just 69. One of the last of the iron-fisted world leaders, Edayema's passing is another nail in the coffin of the emetic, yet enthralling, era of the crazy despots.

With the end of the Cold War, the decline of Russia, the recent toppling of Saddam and now the death of Edayema, the egomaniacal authoritarian leader is becoming an increasingly rare species.

The rapid advancements in communication evidenced over the last half a century or so, coupled with America's belligerent stance on tyrants, has made being a dictator a much more hazardous profession.

Keeping your subjects in a state of ignorant awe is decidedly trickier when foreign media intrudes upon your domain, and purging dissenters runs the risk of becoming a designated test site for America's incredible arsenal.
Indeed, if one happens to oversee an oil-rich country, as . . .  read »