Paternity Tested

North Korea's Dear Leader has named a successor: youngest son Kim John Un. Will "Cute Leader" follow in Dad's erratic footsteps? In the world's many ruling dynasties, the son often charts his own path. (Think Bush 43.) A brief survey:

By Dan Loeterman | NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Jun 15, 2009

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

SPONSORED BY

THE KIMS OF NORTH KOREA
Kim il Sung
1948–94
His Great Leader mystique captivated citizens, but military-first strategy of communist self-reliance led only to mass deprivation.

Kim Jong Il
1994–present
A true heir: nuke obsession trumps attention to food, classrooms. No wonder Hermit Kingdom's life expectancy is 171st in the world.

THE ASSADS OF SYRIA
Hafez Assad
1971–2000
Iron-fisted toward dissidents, crushed a 1982 Muslim uprising by killing 20,000 in Hama. Used Soviet arms pipeline to attack Israel in 1973.

Bashar Al-Assad
2000–present
A modernizer who inches toward reform, but it's give-and-take with the old guard. Hints at Israeli peace, but it's unclear how much clout he has.

THE HASSANS OF MOROCCO
KING Hassan II
1961–99
Brought stability —and also harsh crackdowns on civil rights, especially for women. But moderate Israel stance led to closer U.S. ties.

King Mohamed VI
1999–present
A sharp departure: permits dissent and women's rights, even launched a "truth commission" and paid $85 million to past persecution victims.