Word: autocrats
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Yeltsin has at various times been dismissed, both in the Kremlin and in the West, as a buffoon, an opportunist, a would-be autocrat wrapped in a populist mantle. His judgment has often been questioned -- along with his sobriety. Cynical speculation has abounded about his conversion to democratic principles. His assertiveness and impulsiveness have always exasperated more conventional politicians like Gorbachev, who viewed Yeltsin for years with wariness and distrust...
Stempel's elevation was greeted with cheers among GM workers and dealers, who have wanted a product-oriented chief, a "car guy," for a long time. They have also been heartened by Stempel's declaration that he will run GM as a team leader rather than an autocrat. He promises that the changes he makes will be humane. "We are not going to take GM apart and put it back together again," he said on the day he took over. But he will have trouble resisting the urge to tinker with GM until it roars like the racing machines...
EGYPT. Part democrat, part autocrat, President Hosni Mubarak is steering a zigzag course. He has allowed opposition parties to flower, and tolerates perhaps the most feisty press in the Arab world. At the same time, he has invoked emergency arrest-and-detention laws to crack down on radical fundamentalists. Mubarak's party controls the national assembly; the opposition benches are dominated by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who had to run under other parties since the Brotherhood is banned...