[discardorama]

You're talking as if the dictators sit around, wondering about some sort of "SEO" to game their ranking on these lists.

The "life expectancy" figure can't be gamed, unless you out and out lie.

Here's a recent article for thought: http://www.wired.com/2010/04/cuban-health-lessons/

[scardine]

The indicators per se are not gamed. Instead, you select a few indicators like "Olympic medals", "life expectancy" (etc) and commit every resource of the country to them at all cost and without regard for everything else. The indicators you picked will show amazing and you can use them to justify your ideology. Pretty much like a SEO hack, they are hacking public opinion (looks like it worked on you).