The Shadow Leader: Iran's Secrecy Reveals a Broader Pattern of Power The news that Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is effectively holed up in an undisclosed location, communicating only through a labyrinthine network of couriers, raises more questions about the nature of power and decision making than it answers.
This development speaks to a broader pattern of behavior among authoritarian regimes. One cannot help but be reminded of dictators and strongmen throughout history who have used secrecy as a tool to maintain control.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea's Kim regime, for example, employed various forms of isolation and manipulation to stay one step ahead of their enemies and critics.