President Vladimir Putin in Russia, President Bashar Assad in Syria and President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe are detested by many of their fellow countrymen who would like to see them overthrown and tried for human rights abuses. They depend on a close coterie of guards and aides who have to be kept happy. If they ride roughshod over their entourage there is the possibility of assassination by the "Praetorian Guard."

Commentators suggest that all three are doomed to fall in the end and that we are seeing the beginning of the end of their power. But the end could still be quite a long way off and we should beware of wishful thinking.

Putin's majority in the recent election was boosted by some dubious electoral practices including multiple voting and strong arm tactics against opponents and critics. Corruption in modern Russia is so extensive and violence against critics so endemic that the correspondent in Moscow of The Guardian, an English newspaper known for its independent views, titled his book about his terrifying years in Moscow as "The Mafia State."