How Is Food Good

Syria- Bashar al-Assad
When Assad came to power in 2000, he was seen as a potential reformer by both domestic and foreign observers, whose hopes for change in Syria were dashed by the harsh crackdowns he ordered against political opponents.  Upon the rise of anti-government rebels in the Arab Spring, Assad ordered the military to stamp out any dissent, something which contributed to the outbreak of full-blown civil war in 2011.  120,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict, with tens of thousands of political prisoners being held and tortured in prison, and Assad is believed to have authorised the use of cluster bombs and chemical weapons on his own people.

Noth Korea-Kim Jong-Un
It’s almost too easy to find examples of the totalitarian control the North Korean government has over the state, from pursuing nuclear arms while its people starve to summarily executing its citizens for watching illegally imported television shows from South Korea.  While there was hope from observers that there might be some softening of domestic and foreign policies when the now 30-year-old Kim took charge following the death of Kim Il-Sung, his administration has seemingly continued to act with the same ruthlessness and aggression as his father’s.  Summary and public executions of dissidents, defectors and political opponents are common, as are the presence of prison camps for anyone deemed to be a threat to the establishment, and the capital city Pyongyang is itself a restricted zone, with living rights and access permitted to only the most loyal citizens.
Zimbabwe-Robert Mugabe,
Mugabe began his reign with widespread international and national support. After leading a successful anti-colonial war of liberation, he was elected independent Zimbabwe’s first president. But over the years he has displayed increasingly dictatorial tendencies. According to Amnesty International, in 2002 alone, Mugabe’s government killed or tortured 70,000 people. Unemployment is above...