But it may prove hard for him to find enough support for his repressive system.

ECONOMIST: Russian modernisation

He understood that the ideology that animated them, Islamofascism, was much like those of previous totalitarians: ruthless, messianic and utterly determined to impose its repressive political system on all others, unless prevented from doing so.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Terry Elkes Democrats

China's support for its increasingly successful and profitable artists and galleries may well be no more than a figleaf for a repressive political system, but the western art world, eager for a new audience and a new market, likes seeing red.

ECONOMIST: Two leading art fairs are showcasing new art from China

Even if the police stick to the book, Bahrain has a repressive enough legal system to squash most dissent.

ECONOMIST: Bahrain

These are newly minted British heroes who Gitmo critics praise lavishly and elevate to the status of poster boys for the repressive American detention system.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Guantanamo Bay: five years later

Its political system is repressive, its economy is riddled with corruption, its population is aging (or, depending on your interpretation, dying out), people drink a lot, the railroads are in bad shape and the roads in worse, and the weather sucks.

FORBES: Russia's Suicide Rate Continues To Decrease

And the repressive state-dominated financial system those savings are kept in is actually well placed to deal with repayment delays and defaults.

ECONOMIST: Resilient China

Using the payments system as a repressive tool for or against certain behavior is like using Catholic Church attendance as a way to target illegal immigrants.

FORBES: Generic Viagra Industry Is Pro-Choice In Payments

When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, in an act that ignited youth driven revolution across Tunisia and throughout the Arab world, he was rallying against a system that was not only corrupt and repressive but which offered little prospect of decent jobs for young people like himself.

BBC: Tunisia��s unemployed revolutionaries head to Europe