Re: Read further. Its a characteristic (nepotism) that is endemic in the Middle East,...
Nepotism is not a trademark of the Mideast only --there's nepotism everywhere, including Europe, Asia, the US,... Of course, in developed countries (like the US and Europe), nepotism is less visible in politics proper because the scions and scionesses of wealthy families have got other outlets to fulfill themselves. In other words, REAL power in the US lies in the business community, Wall Street, transnationals,... Keep in mind that the annual revenues of GM, Ford, Exxon, etc are larger than annual GDPs of most countries...
Contrariwise, in the Arab world --and, more generally, in the Third world-- it's not enough for ruling classes to own several billions of dollars on Swiss bank accounts to secure their (dominant) position. Hence the need for Third-World bourgeoisies to invest the political, military and public-office positions. Just remember what happened to the late Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire: despite his (estimated) wealth of five billion dollars, he became a fugitive once the military dumped him... Remember what happened in Russia in 1990 when Boris Eltsin rose to power: General Alexander Lebed could have stopped him in his tracks if he wanted: Moscow was surrounded by Lebed's tank divisions.... |
