It was a pathetic sight, the images of Laurent Gbagbo after his arrest. Sitting on the bed with his wife; a sad expression on his face. If one would not have known that this man deliberately chose for deadly conflict instead of stepping down, you would certainly pity him. Still, Gbagbo maintained until the end that he won the elections, like Qaddafi still claims to be the ‘Guide’ of the Libyan people. Why not step down and be satisfied with a nice pension on the Bahamas? Unfortunately, dictators don’t think this way. Most of them perceive the legitimacy of their power as reality. Time to investigate the age-old maxim: power corrupts.

TEXT: Victor Kuijpens
IMAGE: Vipez

One of the most embarrassing examples of failure to feel the moment is the final public appearance of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. The couple had headed the Communist regime for almost 25 years, building not only an immorally expensive presidential palace, but also a genuine cult of personality. While their private militias were killing dissenters throughout the country, protesters swarmed through the streets of Bucharest and the army refused to intervene. In the meanwhile, the self-styled ‘Genius of the Carpathians’, addressed the ‘great popular revolutionary movement’ before him, wishing them ‘success in all their activities’. The rest of the speech was a mockery, as he was interrupted by shooting and shouting. After trying to recover himself by waving, pleading for silence and unity, Ceausescu’s face finally began to show some doubt, realizing that his audience was not shouting for him, but rather for his dismissal. The image went all over the country and in the following days the Communist regime tumbled, while the couple was executed in a fake trial.

There are many theories which attempt to explain why dictators like Ceausescu are unable to understand even the most obvious display of discontent. The corny - but sometimes very morally conscious - show of South Park illustrates one of them. In one episode, Cartman convinces himself that he not only helped to invent the best joke ever, but that he actually did it all by himself, while slaying a dragon and being told that he is absolutely not fat. In reality, he was lying on the coach and eating potato chips. His friend Kyle’s explanation is that Cartman’s ego is so sensitive that it protects itself by altering his memory. While this is funny in South Park, it has more serious effects in the real world. The phenomenon has also been observed by political psychologists in the 50’s, naming it cognitive dissonance. In short, the mind of the dictator does misinterpret all signs which challenge the self-image of a great patriot.

'The statesman who has gradually concentrated all power within himself in order that he may be able to carry out the high and noble aims which have led him to eschew comfort and enter the arena of public life, is amazed at the ingratitude of the people when they turn against him.' Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

Does this mean that dictators like Qaddafi are the victim of their own, nature given ego? Not exclusively. In fact, one could argue that many dictators were at the beginning as humble and emphatic as the next man. Many current and past dictators, such as Mugabe and Khomeini, received a lot of sympathy from the west before their rise to power. The huge change in their character is not that weird if you observe the cult of personality build by the likes of Qaddafi. If you would have spend the larger part of your life living in golden palaces, guarded by a band of handpicked Amazons and being allowed to put up your Bedouin tent in the parks of Rome, it makes sense that you loose all touch with reality.

Scientifically, the 1971 Stanford Prison experiment showed how such a sudden and dramatic personality change can come about. During the controversial research, a random sample of students was divided in guards and prisoners to simulate the real effects of imprisonment. After six days, the experiment had to be stopped because the guards were taking their roles so seriously that they began to torture their fellow students. The researchers concluded that it is not so much the personality of a person that determined their acts, but rather the power position they were given.

While not going so far as to suggest we therefore should treat dictators as mentally impaired, hospitalizing rather than judging them, it might pay off to question the rationality of authoritarian behavior. Qaddafi does not call upon Libyan unity against the Al-Qaeda just because he thinks it’s a good strategy. It might be that he genuinely believes that his people still loves him.