Military dictatorship

Military Dictatorship

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Military dictatorship

A military dictatorship is a form of government

Form of government

A form of government is a term that refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized in order to exert its powers over a body politic....
wherein the political power resides with the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy

Stratocracy

A stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs. It is not the same as a military dictatorship where the military's political power is not enforced or even supported by other laws....
, a state ruled directly by the military.

any dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is usually defined as an Autocracy form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator, without hereditary ascension....
, a military dictatorship may be official or unofficial, and as a result may not actually qualify as stratocratic. Mixed form also exist, where the military exerts a very strong influence without being entirely dominant.

The typical military dictatorship in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
was ruled by a junta
Military junta

A military junta is a government ruled by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors....
(derived from a Spanish word which can be translated as "conference" or "board"), or a committee composed of several officers, often from the military's most senior leadership, but in other cases less senior, as evidenced by the term colonels' regime, where the military leaders remained loyal to the previous regime.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Military dictatorship'

Start a new discussion about 'Military dictatorship'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A military dictatorship is a form of government

Form of government

Military

Stratocracy

Phenomenon

Like any dictatorship

Dictatorship

Latin America

Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
.

In the Middle East

Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
governments more often came to be led by a single powerful person, and were autocracies

Autocracy

An autocracy is a form of government in which the political power is held by a single, self-appointed ruler. The term autocrat is derived from the Greek language word 'a?t????t?? ....
in addition to military dictatorships. Leaders like Idi Amin

Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada , commonly known as Idi Amin, was a Ugandan Military dictatorship and the President of Uganda of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colony regiment, the King's African Rifles, in 1946, and advanced to the rank of Major General and Commander of the Ugandan Army....
, Sani Abacha

Sani Abacha

General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. He was the List of Presidents of Nigeria of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....
, Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi#Name also known as Colonel Gaddafi has been the de facto leader of Libya since a 1969 coup....
, and Gamal Abdul Nasser worked to develop a personality cult and became the face of the nation inside and outside their countries.

Most military dictatorships are formed after a coup d'état
Coup d'état

A coup d??tat , often simply called a coup, is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government by a part of the state establishment – usually the military – to replace the branch of the stricken government, either with another civil government or with a military government....
has overthrown the previous government. One very different pattern was the one followed by Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power....
's regime in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung was the president and absolute ruler of North Korea from its founding in early 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il....
's regime in North Korea

North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
, both of which began as one-party states, but over the course of their existence turned into military dictatorships as their leaders donned uniforms and the military became closely involved in the government.

Conversely, other military dictatorships may gradually restore significant components of civilian

Civilian

A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agency, which often use rank structures similar to those of military units...
government while the senior military commander still maintains executive political power

Political power

Political power is a type of power held by a political organization in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth....
. In Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, ruling Generals Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

General officer Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the president and military ruler of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988. Appointed Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army in 1976, General Zia-ul-Haq came to power after he overthrew ruling Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a military coup d'?tat on July 5, 1977 and b...
(1977-1988) and Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf

General Pervez Musharraf , Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Basalat, is a former President of Pakistan. Previously, he was Prime Minister of Pakistan as well as Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army of the Pakistan Army....
(1999-2008) have held singular referendums to elect themselves President of Pakistan

President of Pakistan

The President of Pakistan is the head of state of the Islamic republic of Pakistan. Pakistan has a parliamentary form of government. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, the President is chosen by the Electoral College of Pakistan to serve a five-year term....
for additional terms forbidden by the constitution.

In the past, military juntas have justified their rule as a way of bringing political stability for the nation or rescuing it from the threat of "dangerous ideologies

Ideology

An ideology is a set of aims and ideas, especially in politics. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society....
". In Latin America the threat of communism

Communism

Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarianism, classlessness, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general....
was often used, while in the Middle East the desire to oppose Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
and later Islamic fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalism Arabic language: usul , is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah....
proved an important motivating pattern. Military regimes tend to portray themselves as non-partisan, as a "neutral" party that can provide interim leadership in times of turmoil, and also tend to portray civilian politicians as corrupt and ineffective. One of the almost universal characteristics of a military government is the institution of martial law

Martial law

Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupied territory in the absence of any other civil government....
or a permanent state of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans....
.

Although there are exceptions, military regimes usually have little respect for human rights

Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
and use whatever means necessary to silence political opponents, who are viewed as opposing the army as enemies. A military regime is also rarely willing to leave power unless forced to by popular revolt, whether active or imminent.

Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East have been common areas for military dictatorships. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the military often has more cohesion and institutional structure

Institution

Institutions are social structure and social mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior....
than most of the civilian institutions of society.

Military dictatorships can be contrasted with other forms of dictatorship. For example, in most current and historical Communist state

Communist state

Communist state is a term used by many political scientists to describe a form of government in which the state operates under a single-party state and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof....
s, the center of power rests among civilian party officials, and very careful measures (such as political commissar

Political commissar

A political commissar, or politruk, is an officer appointed by a government to oversee a unit of the military. They are used by the government to ensure that previously appointed officers and troops are loyal to the new regime....
s and frequent rotations) are taken to prevent the military from exercising independent authority.

Since the 1990s, military dictatorships have become less common. Reasons for this include the fact that military dictatorships no longer have much international legitimacy, as well as the fact that many militaries having unsuccessfully ruled many nations are now inclined not to become involved in political disputes. Furthermore, the end of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
and the collapse of the Soviet Union made it more difficult for military regimes to use the threat of communism

Communism

Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarianism, classlessness, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general....
as justification for their actions, or to gain support from foreign sources.

As the Cold War began to wind down, in the Middle East, regimes such as those of Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
that were once clearly military dictatorships have switched to other forms of despotism

Despotism

Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an autocracy or oligarchy, which rules with absolute political power. In its classical form, a despotism is a state where a single individual wields all the power and authority embodying the state, and everyone else is a subsidiary person....
.

Current cases

Burma (Myanmar
Myanmar

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia, or Indochina. The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with...
) - since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état
Coup d'état

A coup d??tat , often simply called a coup, is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government by a part of the state establishment – usually the military – to replace the branch of the stricken government, either with another civil government or with a military government....
resulted in Ne Win
Ne Win

Ne Win was a Burma statesman and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981....
seizing power; currently the Tatmadaw (armed forces) still lead under the auspices of the State Peace and Development Council
State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council is the official name of the military regime of Burma ,which seized power in 1988.The SDPC was originally known as State Law and Order Restoration Council ....
; the country was also briefly led by the military from 1958 to 1960.
Fiji
Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
- since the 2006 Fijian coup d'état
2006 Fijian coup d'état

The Fijian coup d'?tat of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'?tat and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....
resulted in Frank Bainimarama
Frank Bainimarama

Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Fijian honours system, Venerable Order of Saint John, Fijian Navy, known commonly as Frank Bainimarama and sometimes by the chiefly title, Ratu is the Commander of the Military of Fiji and, as of 5 January 2007, Interim Prime Minister of Fiji....
seizing power; see also 1987 Fijian coups d'état and 2000 Fijian coup d'état
Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
- since the 1969 Libyan coup d'état
History of Modern Libya

On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. Idris I of Libya represented Libya in the subsequent UN negotiations....
resulted in Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi#Name also known as Colonel Gaddafi has been the de facto leader of Libya since a 1969 coup....
seizing power
Mauritania
Mauritania

Mauritania , officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest....
- since the 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état
2008 Mauritanian coup d'état

A coup d'?tat took place in Mauritania on 6 August 2008 when President of Mauritania Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was ousted from power by a group of high ranking generals he had dismissed from office earlier that day....
; see also 2005 Mauritanian coup d'état
2005 Mauritanian coup d'état

The 2005 Mauritanian coup d'?tat took place on 3 August 2005. The long-serving dictator Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was ousted by the military of Mauritania and replaced by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy while Taya was in Saudi Arabia attending the funeral of King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud....
Guinea
Guinea

Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
- since the 2008 Guinean coup d'état
2008 Guinean coup d'état

The 2008 Guinean coup d'?tat was a Military of Guinea coup d'?tat that occurred in Guinea on 23 December 2008, shortly after the death of long-time President Lansana Cont?....

Past cases

Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
(1965-1976) Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin....
(1963-1964; 1965-1968; 1969-1970; 1972-1987) Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso , also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and C?te d'Ivoire to the south west....
(1966-1970; 1980-1991) Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west....
(1966-1987) Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the east, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west....
(1966-1976; 1981-1985; 2003-2005) Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west....
(1975-1978) Comoros

Comoros

The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel between northern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique....
(1999-2002) Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo , is a country in central Africa with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest list of African countries in order of geographical area....
(1965-1967) Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo , also known as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda , and the Gulf of Guinea....
(1968-1979) Cote d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire

, formerly Ivory Coast, officially the , is a country in West Africa. The government officially discourages the use of the name Ivory Coast in English, preferring the French name to be used in all languages ....
(1999-2000) Egypt

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish-speaking country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa, having a population estimated at half a million....
(1979-1987) Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
(1974-1987) The Gambia

The Gambia

The Gambia commonly known as Gambia, is a country in West Africa. The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa, enclave by Senegal, and has a small coast on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
(1994-1996) Ghana

Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders C?te d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south....
(1966-1970; 1972-1979; 1981-1993) Guinea

Guinea

Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
(1984-1991; 2008-present) Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
(1980-1984) Lesotho

Lesotho

Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave ? entirely surrounded by the South Africa. Formerly Basutoland, it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations....
(1986-1993) Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, C?te d'Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean....
(1980-1984) Libya

Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
(1969-present) Madagascar

Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
(1972-1975; 1977-1991) Mali

Mali

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the C?te d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west....
(1968-1976; 1991-1992) Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania , officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, by Senegal on the southwest, by Mali on the east and southeast, by Algeria on the northeast, and by the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara on the northwest....
(1978-1992; 2005-2007; 2008-present) Niger

Niger

Niger , officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east....
(1974-1989) Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federation constitutional republic comprising States of Nigeria and one Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria....
(1966-1979; 1983-1999) Rwanda

Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania....
(1973-1975) Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the northeast, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest....
(1967-1968; 1992-1996; 1997-1998) Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa....
(1969-1976; local militia rule since 1991) Sudan

Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
(1958-1964; 1969-1986; 1989-1996) Togo

Togo

Togo is a narrow country in West Africa bordering Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lom? is located....
(1967-1969) Uganda

Uganda

The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania....
(1971-1979; 1985-1986)

The Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....

Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
(1930-1932; 1943-1958; 1966-1973; 1976-1983) Bolivia

Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia , named after Sim?n Bol?var, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west....
(1861-1871; 1873-1874; 1876-1880; 1930-1931; 1936-1944; 1951-1952; 1964-1966; 1969-1979; 1980-1982) Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
(1889-1894; 1910-1914; 1946-1951; 1964-1985) Chile

Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
(1891-1896; 1924-1925; 1927-1931; 1973-1990) Colombia

Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
(1855-1857; 1953-1958) Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
(1933-1940; 1952-1954) Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
(1916-1922; 1930-1961) Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west....
(1937-1938; 1963-1966; 1972-1979) El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest country in the Americas and Central America by size, and the most densely populated nation in Central America. It borders on the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras....
(1885-1911; 1931-1935; 1944-1980) Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
(1944-1945; 1957-1958; 1963-1966; 1970-1986) Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Haitian Creole language- and French language-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago....
(1950-1956; 1986-1990) Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
(1903-1907; 1956-1957; 1963-1965; 1972-1982) Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democracy republic. It is the largest state in Central America with an area of 130,000 km2, about the size of the state of New York....
(1937-1947; 1950-1956; 1967-1979) Panama

Panama

Panama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on an isthmus connecting North and South America, some categorize it as a transcontinental nation....
(1968-1989) Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the only two landlocked countries in South America . It lies on both banks of the Paraguay River and is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest....
(1940-1948; 1954-1993) Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
(1845-1872; 1876-1879; 1881-1883; 1886-1895; 1930-1931; 1933-1939; 1948-1956; 1962-1963; 1968-1980) Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname is a country in northern South America. Originally, the country was spelled Surinam by English settlers who founded the first colony at Marshall's Creek, along the Suriname River, and was Geographical renaming Nederlands Guyana, Netherlands Guiana or Dutch Guiana....
(1980-1988) Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.7 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area....
(1876-1879; 1981-1985) Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
(1847-1858; 1935-1959)

Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....

Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
(1976-1981; 1982-1990) Burma (Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia, or Indochina. The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with...
) (1958-1960, 1962-present) Cambodia

Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
(1966-1967; 1969-1975) Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
(Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
) (1928-1975; local militia rule 1912-1928) Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
(1967-1968) Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
(1950-1951; 1953-1957; 1978-1979) Iraq

Iraq

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
(1922-1924; 1932-1945) South Korea

South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
(1961-1963; 1980-1981) Laos

Laos

Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
(1959-1960) Pakistan

Pakistan

Syria

Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
(1933-1945; 1946-1947; 1948-1973; 1976-1992; 2006-2008) South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam refers to an internationally recognized state which governed Vietnam south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone until 1975. Its capital was Saigon and its origin can be traced to the French colony of Cochinchina, which consisted of the southern third of Vietnam....
(1963-1975) North Yemen

North Yemen

North Yemen is a term currently used to designate both the Yemen Arab Republic and its predecessor, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the northern part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia....
(1962-1978)

Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
(1923-1929; 1936-1941; 1967-1974) Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
(1918-1922; 1926-1935; 1981-1983) Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
(1917-1921; 1926-1930; 1968-1976) Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
(1923-1930; 1939-1975) Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
(1960-1961; 1980-1982)

Oceania
Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands , is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu....
(1987, 2000, 2006-present)

Military dictatorship

Phenomenon

Current cases

Past cases

AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....

The AmericasAmericasThe Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....

AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....

EuropeEuropeEurope is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....

OceaniaOceaniaOceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....

See also

Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....

The Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....

Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....

Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....

Oceania
Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....