Baron Cohen, in the role of Admiral General Aladeen, the dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya visiting the United States, stars alongside Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, and Jason Mantzoukas with uncredited appearances by John C. Reilly and Garry Shandling.

Producers Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel said that Baron Cohen's character was inspired by real-life dictators with personality cults like Kim Jong Il, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Saparmurat Niyazov.

He surrounds himself with female bodyguards, sponsors terrorism, changes many words in the Wadiyan dictionary to "Aladeen", and starts developing nuclear weapons to "destroy Israel".

Tamir then replaces Aladeen with a decoy; a dim-witted shepherd named Efawadh whom he intends to manipulate into signing a document nominally democratizing Wadiya while opening up the oil fields to foreign interests.

Wandering through New York in civilian clothes, Aladeen assumes the false identity of "Allison Burgers" and encounters Zoey, a human rights activist who offers him a job at her socially progressive, alternative lifestyle cooperative.

However, upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and, knowing her strongly-held views, vows to democratize Wadiya and open up the oil fields for business, but in a way where the general populace will benefit.

Paramount Pictures described the film as "the heroic story of a North African dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

[7] Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs had been considered for the role that Anna Faris eventually played and which Variety said "calls for strong improvisational skills".

[7] Baron Cohen said the United Nations refused to let him film scenes inside the UN Headquarters and claimed they explained this by saying, "we represent a lot of dictators, and they are going to be very angry by this portrayal of them, so you can't shoot in there."

[17] Although Aladeen is portrayed as antisemitic and wishes to destroy Israel, the "Wadiyan" language he speaks throughout the film is actually Hebrew, as Baron Cohen is himself Jewish.

Archival news footage of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and David Cameron in the beginning of the trailer are excerpts of their 2011 speeches condemning Colonel Gaddafi.

"[20] Baron Cohen eventually appeared at the awards' red carpet with a pair of uniformed female bodyguards (resembling Gaddafi's Amazonian Guard) and wielding an urn purportedly containing the ashes of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, which the actor spilled onto E!

[22] Baron Cohen released a video in the wake of the 2012 French presidential election, congratulating François Hollande on his victory,[23] and appeared in character with the pair of uniformed female bodyguards on the May 7, 2012 episode of The Daily Show.

"[30] Slant Magazine conversely concluded, "bound to be one of the year's biggest comedy letdowns, The Dictator doesn't so much stir hot-button issues as showcase a great satirist off his game.

"[31] Keith Uhlich of Time Out approved, giving it four stars out of five, and calling the opening scenes in the film "a brisk, hilarious jeremiad" and its ending monologue "a rousing, uproarious climactic speech worthy of both Chaplin and Team America.

"[35] Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone claimed that Baron Cohen's film "dodges soothing convention and ultimately merits comparisons to the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup and Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.

"[36] The Irish Examiner wrote that “Sacha Baron Cohen atones for the sins of 'Bruno' with this gleefully bad-taste fish-out-of-water comedy, which kicks sand in the eye of political correctness” and that “no subject is off limits – the September 11 attacks, rape, sexual equality, Judaism – and Larry Charles's film tramples merrily over social taboos, hitting more targets than it misses as the titular despot runs amok in the capitalist playground of New York City.“[37] The Times argued that “with The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen makes a radical break with the comedic style of his past films.

The Dictator is the kind of conventional feature that Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock or even Mike Myers could have made.” The publication also claimed that “it's likely to offend prudes of both the sexually and politically correct persuasions.”[38] The Washington Post wrote that “Cohen has thankfully dispensed with ambushing real-life people for squirm-inducing interviews.

But an early stunt involving a Wii game based on the 1972 Munich Olympics falls flatter than a stale matzo, a running gag about Hollywood stars selling sexual favors quickly loses steam and it can be stipulated that rape jokes simply aren't funny.”[39] The film is banned in several member-countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in particular nations with real-life leaders commonly described as dictators.

For instance, during Aladeen's visit to New York, he and his men arrive riding camels, whereas the background of the city depict cars and other modern modes of transportation.

Wadiya encompasses a variety of unique qualities found in Arab regions; for example, it is set in a desert climate and, more prevalent, its architectural design is heavily inspired by Ottoman and Islamic motif.