The Myth of the Benevolent Dictator

The whole point of a benevolent dictatorship is benevolence. As Wikipedia describe it"Benevolent dictatorship is a form of government in which an authoritarian leader exercises political power for the benefit of the whole population rather than exclusively for his or her own self-interest or benefit or for the benefit of only a small portion of the population. A benevolent dictator may allow for some democratic decision-making to exist, such as through public referendums."
The reality is however much different though many despots like to describe themselves as benevolent dictatorships this is pure myth.
In order to maintain power these regimes often use torture and violence to suppress  their citizens desire to participate in the direction of their future. Security crackdowns, Government informants, fear and intimidation are tools that dictators frequently employ in order to inflict their will on their people. They deny economic participation of any meaning to their citizens. There is no enlightened absolutism.
While Saudi send troops to contain Bahraini  dissidents they, due to the upsurge in oil prices, are able to employ a combination of money and violence to stem the tide of liberation that is sweeping across Arabia.
In Syria as elsewhere in the Middle East it is violence that is the preferred weaponry of the regime to contain their populace. They fail to acknowledge that the root causes of this Arab Spring are The dictatorship themselves, sectarianism, human rights violations, government corruption, lack of economic participation, unemployment, extreme poverty and prefer to blame foreign interference for their eventual demise.
As it is well documented that Western Governments and intelligence agencies have always tried to promote and prop up their own proxies and vassals this wave is proving to be a bit of a dilemma for the enlightened causing an awkward balance between idealism and pragmatism. As their strategic assets are yearning for change the solution is for once to do the right thing and allow the people their fundamental human rights and ensure this change is rapid. Otherwise extremism will become the order of the day.