2011: Not The Year For Dictators!

Ben Ali of Tunisia: ousted.

Mubarak of Egypt: ousted.

Gaddafi of Libya: captured and killed.

Saleh of Yemen: attempted assassination and ousted.

Kim Jong-Il of North Korea: died.

Assad of Syria: ?

2011 certainly hasn't been a great year for the dictator. They certainly are becoming an endangered species!

One does hope the very best for all these countries that are going through major changes at the top of their ruling establishments. Though with the death of Kim Jung-Il, one fears how the country will go forward with his inexperienced young son at the helm. With his Swiss education, will he want to improve political ties with the rest of the world? Or, will he want to show his generals beneath him that he is capable of running the country as ruthlessly as his father, and maybe launch a surprise military attack on one of it's enemies to keep the elite unified?

Time will only tell, and obviously we all hope the very best for the impoverished population of North Korea, as well as all the other countries that are going through democratization.