The longer they are in power the stronger they are in power.
Dictators thrive on longevity. They eat it for breakfast – longevity allows them with every passing day, month, year further to gain control and further to do what they must to maintain it. They use their time in power increasingly to spread it, strengthen it, and secure it.
The present Iranian regime has held power for over four decades. The present Russian regime has held power for over two decades. The present Chinese regime has held power for over one decade. Think the men who’ve led these regimes have not used their many years in power to make as certain as they can their leadership roles remain intact? Think again.
Hard to convey the degree to which security – their own personal security, the political security of their regimes – is a priority. The priority. Nothing matters more to Ali Khamenei, to Vladimir Putin, and to Xi Jinping than maintaining the status quo so far as it pertains to their personal and political leverage.
China is the most extreme example of the leader’s craving for complete control. During the ten years that Xi has been president of the country and chair of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China has become much the most aggressive and intrusive surveillance state in the world. No expense has been spared, no technology has been excluded, no stone has been left unturned in the relentless quest to track the locations and behaviors of every single Chinese man and women. Nor have the children been left out. They are regularly socialized and educated from an early age in the virtues of the CCP, and in the ideas and ideologies of Xi Jinping.
In the last several days the world has witnessed the following: First, Iranian World Cup soccer players – and their families – threatened by the Iranian government for failing perfectly to conform and perform at the games in Qatar. Second, Russian missiles relentlessly attacking Ukrainian power grids hoping to accomplish in the cities what they have been unable to accomplish on the battlefields. Third, the Chinese authorities now sweeping into areas that on the weekend were restive, tracking and threatening those who dared to participate in the protests.
I wrote yesterday that none of the three leaders – not Khamenei, Putin, or Xi – have had more than an occasional brush with dissent. They are inexperienced therefore in how to respond. So, they respond reflexively, out of habit. What is their habit? Completely to squash the opposition. Completely to stamp it out before it has a chance to spread.
But as I also wrote dictators can kill only what’s visible to the naked eye. They cannot crawl into hearts and minds. It’s why the longer dictators are in power the stronger they are in power – until they are not.