in modern times, a dictator's rule is not stopped by any laws, constitutions, or other social and political institutions, and can last many years or even decades. after leaving the spanish empire, many countries in latin america were dictatorships. world war ii was partly a war between dictators, and later new countries in asia and africa also were ruled by dictators. examples of dictators include josef stalin, adolf hitler, augusto pinochet, idi amin, muammar al-qaddafi, and gamal abdul nasser. these men ruled from when they took power until when they died, because they would not let anyone else take power from them. there is no evidence of a woman serving as a dictator in modern times.