Best Authoritarian
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Mohammed bin Salman is the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, serving as the country's de facto ruler since 2017 and architect of the Vision 2030 economic reform plan.
Nursultan Nazarbayev served as President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019, notable for being the first leader of the nation and establishing an autocracy.
Daniel Ortega is a Nicaraguan politician who has served as President since 2007, leading the Sandinista National Liberation Front government.
Ilham Aliyev has served as President of Azerbaijan since 2003, notable for succeeding his father and leading the country during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Alberto Fujimori is a Peruvian politician who served as President from 1990 to 2000, later convicted of human rights abuses and corruption.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer serving as the sixth president of Egypt since 2014, having led the 2013 removal of President Mohamed Morsi.
Hosni Mubarak was an Egyptian military officer and politician who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011, stepping down following mass protests during the Arab Spring.
Vladimir Putin is a Russian politician who has served as the President or Prime Minister of Russia continuously since 1999. He is notable for his long, centralized grip on power.
Islam Karimov served as the first President of Uzbekistan from 1990 until his death in 2016, notable for maintaining a highly authoritarian and isolated regime.
Alexander Lukashenko has served as President of Belarus since 1994, notable for maintaining an authoritarian regime often described as the last dictatorship in Europe.
Ali Khamenei is an Iranian Twelver Shia marja and politician who has served as the Supreme Leader of Iran since 1989, previously serving as the country's president from 1981 to 1989.
Muammar Gaddafi was a Libyan revolutionary and politician who seized power in a 1969 coup, ruling Libya as its absolute leader until his violent overthrow during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Nicolás Maduro is a Venezuelan politician serving as president of Venezuela since 2013, whose tenure has overseen a severe socioeconomic and political crisis causing mass emigration.
