Ethical Assessments of Dictators

The assessment covers post-genocide stability, health and development, women's participation, authoritarian elections, repression of critics, transnational intimidation and Rwanda's role in conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China. The assessment covers poverty reduction, infrastructure, renewable-energy expansion, centralisation of power, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, surveillance and restrictions on civil and political freedom.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia. The assessment covers economic and social reform, women's employment, political centralisation, executions, repression of dissent, the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi leadership of the Yemen coalition.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers military seizure of power, mass repression, political imprisonment, torture, economic and infrastructure policy, regional mediation, security policy and prolonged concentration of authority.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Bolshevik revolutionary and first head of the Soviet state. The assessment covers revolutionary government, civil war, the Red Terror, political suppression, economic coercion and the New Economic Policy.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

President of Belarus. The assessment covers social and economic stability, poverty outcomes, elimination of democratic competition, election repression, political imprisonment, torture and support for Russia's war against Ukraine.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Four decades of personal dictatorship, political repression, external violence and alleged crimes against humanity during the 2011 uprising dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Authoritarian rule, nationalist escalation, support for violent campaigns, persecution and forced displacement dominate the record; his trial ended without judgment after his death.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Founder and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. The assessment covers national unification, social change, the Great Leap Forward, mass famine, political campaigns and the Cultural Revolution.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

President and former prime minister of the Russian Federation. The assessment covers domestic rule, economic outcomes, political repression, the wars against Georgia and Ukraine, occupation, civilian harm and command responsibility.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Fascist dictatorship, colonial aggression, racial laws, alliance with Nazi Germany and entry into the Second World War dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Theocratic authority, repression, executions, torture, gender persecution and restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Combined political and military authority, expansion of aggressive war and systemic abuse across occupied Asia dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Leader of the Soviet Union. The assessment covers forced collectivisation, famine, political terror, purges, forced labour, industrialisation and wartime leadership.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Supreme leader of North Korea. The assessment covers totalitarian rule, political prison camps, executions, collective punishment, food insecurity, denial of freedom, nuclear and missile escalation and state cooperation with limited humanitarian programmes.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Judicially established assistance to murder, rape, mutilation, enslavement, child recruitment and terror against civilians overwhelmingly dominates the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Aggressive wars, the Anfal campaign, chemical attacks, political terror and personal dictatorship overwhelmingly dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

The assessment covers Systematic torture, attacks on civilians, enforced disappearance, mass displacement and prolonged destructive warfare overwhelmingly dominate the record.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.

Leader of Nazi Germany. The assessment covers dictatorship, racial persecution, genocide, aggressive war, propaganda and command responsibility from 1933 to 1945.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

Leader of the Khmer Rouge regime. The assessment covers forced evacuation, forced labour, starvation, persecution, torture, mass execution and genocide from 1975 to 1979.

A completed public ethical assessment is available below.

The assessment covers Final judgments established genocide, crimes against humanity, terror against civilians, deportation, forcible transfer and hostage-taking.

This is a contemporary assessment current to 26 June 2026. It must be revised as later conduct and evidence become available.