In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as democratic movements swept across the globe, certain dictatorial regimes held fast against this historic tide. As much of Eastern Europe emerged after decades of communist rule, dictators in China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Iran maintain a firm grasp on their power. How have these rulers remained so stable? Illustrating how overt defiance of external military or political foes has been employed with lasting success to shore up power, Paul Brooker examines the political structures of these eight dictatorships as a means of explaining their longevity. An instructive and original survey, Defiant Dictatorships traces rulers and countries remarkably unaffected by the dawn of the democratic age.