Observations on sons in power
Could hereditary political power be a more tenacious idea than we thought? Two centuries and more after republicanism supposedly set inherited authority on the slope to ruin, a surprising amount of power is still being wielded around the world by the sons of people who wielded it before them.
Most obvious is the United States, a country built on the overthrow of hereditary rule, where we have the democratically elected George Walker Bush, the 43rd president and son of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st.
It was George W Bush who identified the "axis of evil" - Iran, Iraq and North Korea - and in charge of one of those for the past 12 years has been the "Dear Leader", Kim Jong-il, proud son of the "Great Leader", Kim Il-sung, who ruled in best communist style for the preceding 46 years.
Just beyond the axis of evil is Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad assumed the presidency six years ago on the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, ruler for 30 years and leading light of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
Next door in Jordan is a monarchy, but one of the few left with real power up its sleeve; King Abdullah is the Oxford-educated son of the Sandhurst-educated King Hussein (ruled 1952-99). In Morocco, King Mohammed VI likewise succeeded his father, while in Saudi Arabia King Abdullah is the fifth successive son of Ibn Saud, the country's founder, to have ascended the throne.
Such career paths are much simpler than that followed by Saad Hariri in Lebanon, son of the former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Saad was running a construction company when he was sucked into politics last year following his father's assassination, and now he leads the majority party in the Lebanese parliament.
In Egypt, too, the president of 25 years, Hosni Mubarak, is widely thought to be grooming his second son, Gamal, for the succession. Aged 42, Gamal used to be an investment banker but is now a leading light in his father's National Democratic Party.
Moving away from the Middle East, Joseph Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, in 2001. At just 29 he was the world's youngest head of state and now, five years later, he is well placed to win the country's first democratic elections in 46 years. In Togo, meanwhile, President Faure Gnassingbé has the job held by his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who was dictator for 38 years to 2005.
Democracy and dictatorship, as well as monarchy, seem to have room for stuff that runs in the blood. Something there for Leo Blair to ponder on, perhaps?
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