The Assad regime, led by Hafez al-Assad from 1971 to 2000 and then by his son Bashar since 2000, has been a Ba’athist dictatorship rooted in secular Arab nationalism. It relies on a mix of military control, a pervasive security apparatus, and alliances with minority groups (notably Alawites) to maintain power. North Korea, under the Kim dynasty since 1948, operates as a totalitarian state with a juche (self-reliance) ideology, a personality cult around the Kim family, and a near-complete suppression of dissent. Both regimes are brutal.