PLOT
For years, the fictional East African republic of Wadiya (shown in the map as coterminous with the boundaries of real-life Eritrea) has been ruled by ruthless dictator Omar Aladeen, and later succeeded by his son Admiral-General Haffaz Aladeen, a childish, sexist, anti-Western, and antisemitic dictator who surrounds himself with female bodyguards, sponsors terrorism (especially giving shelter to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after "they killed his double"), changes many words in the Wadiyan dictionary to "Aladeen", and is working on developing nuclear weapons to "destroy Israel". He also refuses to sell Wadiya's oil fields, a promise he made to his father before his death. After the United Nations Security Council resolves to intervene militarily, Aladeen travels to the UN Headquarters in New York City to address the council.
Shortly after arriving, Aladeen is kidnapped by Clayton, supposedly in charge of the security preparations but actually a hitman hired by his treacherous uncle Tamir Mafraad, whom Omar passed over as successor in favor of his son. 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 country's oil fields to foreign interests. Aladeen escapes after Clayton accidentally burns himself to death in a failed torture attempt. When his burnt corpse is discovered, Tamir thinks Aladeen has been killed. However, Aladeen, who is still alive, is practically unrecognizable as his beard has been shaved off by Clayton.
Wandering through New York City in civilian clothes, Aladeen, assuming the false identity of "Allison Burgers", encounters Zoey, a human rights activist who offers him a job at her socially progressive, alternative lifestyle co-op. Aladeen refuses the offer and encounters "Nuclear" Nadal, the former chief of Wadiya's nuclear weapons program, whom Aladeen thought he had previously executed over an argument about the warhead's design. Aladeen follows him to New York's "Little Wadiya" district, which is populated by refugees from his own country, and meets him in "Death to Aladeen Restaurant", a restaurant run by and visited by numerous people whom Aladeen had ordered to be executed. After a failed attempt to cover up his identity, Aladeen is accused of being an "Aladeen sympathizer" by the restaurant's waiter and nearby visitors. Nadal saves Aladeen from being attacked and reveals to Aladeen that all the people he had ordered to be executed are instead sent into exile to the United States, as the executioners are actually a resistance movement. Nadal agrees to help Aladeen thwart Tamir's plot and regain his power, on condition that Aladeen makes him head of Wadiya's nuclear program again. Aladeen agrees and accepts Zoey's job offer, as she is catering at the hotel where the signing is to occur. Aladeen grows closer to Zoey after she refuses his sexual advances and eventually falls in love with her after seeing her angry. Turning around Zoey's struggling business, Aladeen begins imposing strict schedules on everyone, forming a personality cult around Zoey and intimidating an inspector into giving the store a good review.
However, Aladeen's relationship with Zoey becomes strained after he decides to be honest with her and reveal his true self; she cannot love a man who is so brutal to his own people. After acquiring a new beard taken from a black man's corpse at his funeral, Aladeen ziplines into the hotel and tells Efawadh he has recovered; his double was fooled into thinking the Supreme Leader was ill. At the signing ceremony, he tears up Tamir's document in front of the media and holds an impassioned speech praising the virtues of dictatorship, drawing unintended parallels to current issues in the United States. However, upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and, knowing Zoey's strongly-held views, vows to democratize his country and open up Wadiya's oil fields for business, but in a way where the general populace will benefit. Furious with Aladeen staying in power, Tamir attempts to shoot him but Efawadh jumps in front of the bullet getting shot in the head, but survives. Tamir is arrested afterward.
A year later, Wadiya holds its first democratic elections, although they are rigged in favor of Aladeen (who has now added the title "President-Prime Minister" to his previous Admiral-General). Afterward, he marries Zoey, but is shocked when she breaks a glass with her foot and reveals herself to be Jewish; throughout the film, he is shown vowing to destroy Israel. Scenes during the credits show Aladeen's convoy, now consisting of eco-friendly cars, Aladeen visiting a re-instated Nadal, and later Zoey revealing in a television interview that she is pregnant with the couple's first child. Aladeen responds to the news by asking if Zoey is having "a boy or an abortion".