Dr. Marcel Dirsus

Yeah, I think that's part of the trouble of studying these regimes, right? Comparatively speaking, democracies tend to be quite open. So obviously there's backroom deals. A lot of it is about power and so forth. But in dictatorships, it's really to the extreme.

And once you arrive at a place like North Korea, it's incredibly difficult to tell what is going on, how stable the regime is, and it's really like winning tea leaves.

And once you arrive at a place like North Korea, it's incredibly difficult to tell what is going on, how stable the regime is, and it's really like winning tea leaves.

And once you arrive at a place like North Korea, it's incredibly difficult to tell what is going on, how stable the regime is, and it's really like winning tea leaves.

So weirdly enough, these family dynamics are really important in a lot of these dictatorships. Partly that's because dictatorships tend to be very bad at organizing succession.

So weirdly enough, these family dynamics are really important in a lot of these dictatorships. Partly that's because dictatorships tend to be very bad at organizing succession.

So weirdly enough, these family dynamics are really important in a lot of these dictatorships. Partly that's because dictatorships tend to be very bad at organizing succession.

So if you have a political system in which so much power is concentrated in the hands of just one man or a very small group at the top, when that man is no longer around because he's been killed or because he died in his sleep, things tend to go very wrong very quickly. So you can risk up ending up in like a civil war or something like that.

So if you have a political system in which so much power is concentrated in the hands of just one man or a very small group at the top, when that man is no longer around because he's been killed or because he died in his sleep, things tend to go very wrong very quickly. So you can risk up ending up in like a civil war or something like that.

So if you have a political system in which so much power is concentrated in the hands of just one man or a very small group at the top, when that man is no longer around because he's been killed or because he died in his sleep, things tend to go very wrong very quickly. So you can risk up ending up in like a civil war or something like that.

So oftentimes the power of least resistance for the regime insiders that want to keep the system as such alive is to pick a family member. So oftentimes they agree to people, even though that might not be ideal, but they think that's the best option that's on offer.

So oftentimes the power of least resistance for the regime insiders that want to keep the system as such alive is to pick a family member. So oftentimes they agree to people, even though that might not be ideal, but they think that's the best option that's on offer.

So oftentimes the power of least resistance for the regime insiders that want to keep the system as such alive is to pick a family member. So oftentimes they agree to people, even though that might not be ideal, but they think that's the best option that's on offer.

Yeah, so the thing about dictators is that a lot of their power rests on this idea of them having power, right? So it's a perception of strength rather than an actual brute strength that they personally have. When you look at Gaddafi, he took this to an extreme. He had these palaces, he had all these extravagances that you were talking about, right?

Yeah, so the thing about dictators is that a lot of their power rests on this idea of them having power, right? So it's a perception of strength rather than an actual brute strength that they personally have. When you look at Gaddafi, he took this to an extreme. He had these palaces, he had all these extravagances that you were talking about, right?

Yeah, so the thing about dictators is that a lot of their power rests on this idea of them having power, right? So it's a perception of strength rather than an actual brute strength that they personally have. When you look at Gaddafi, he took this to an extreme. He had these palaces, he had all these extravagances that you were talking about, right?

He would travel to faraway lands, you know, set up his Bedouin tents, and it was completely nuts. And one of the things that he had was a golden gun, right? So that the gun itself was made of gold and was intricately engraved and all the rest of it. And really it was a symbol of his power because who has that? It's a deeply weird thing to have.

He would travel to faraway lands, you know, set up his Bedouin tents, and it was completely nuts. And one of the things that he had was a golden gun, right? So that the gun itself was made of gold and was intricately engraved and all the rest of it. And really it was a symbol of his power because who has that? It's a deeply weird thing to have.

He would travel to faraway lands, you know, set up his Bedouin tents, and it was completely nuts. And one of the things that he had was a golden gun, right? So that the gun itself was made of gold and was intricately engraved and all the rest of it. And really it was a symbol of his power because who has that? It's a deeply weird thing to have.

But at the moment when he would have actually needed it, which is when rebels caught him, that gun couldn't save him because that perception of his power was gone. And in the end, the rebels took the gun off him and he had a horrible end. Last footage that we have of him alive is him basically being beaten. He was sodomized. He's begging for mercy, his head bloody. So it was a really terrible end.