Qaddafi Son’s Dissertation

Saif Qaddafi, son of Libyan dictator Muammar, has completed a doctoral dissertation bemoaning the lack of democracy in the world.

saif qaddafiSaif al-Islam Gaddafi said the current system of global governance was “highly undemocratic”. He hit out at undemocratic states whose governments were “authoritarian, abusive and unrepresentative”.

His father Muammar Gaddafi came to power in a coup in 1969 and has ruled Libya for 40 years. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 37, continues to play a prominent role within the Libyan political landscape.

[…]

The dissertation is called “The Role of Civil Society in the Democratisation of Global Governance Institutions: From Soft Power to Collective Decision Making?” Mr Gaddafi wrote: “I shall be primarily concerned with what I argue is the central failing of the current system of global governance in the new global environment: that it is highly undemocratic.” He continued that his dissertation would “analyse the problem of how to create more just and democratic global governing institutions”, focusing on the importance of the role of “civil society”.

I’m not sure what’s more amusing: The incongruity with his research findings and his father’s station or, as Josh Keating points out, that he hired the Monitor Group to do most of the actual research.  Somehow, that seems to violate the spirit of the thing.  Not to mention, a touch undemocratic.

FILED UNDER: Democracy, Education, Environment, World Politics, , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is a Professor of Security Studies. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Alex Knapp says:

    If my brain were a computer, it would have crashed after reading this. Does not compute…

  2. Dave Schuler says:

    Hmmm. More “democratic global governing institutions” would mean Americans sending their incomes to Libya (among others), wouldn’t it? Not to mention consuming no more than their fair share (determined democratically, of course) of oil and other of the world’s resources.

  3. Brett says:

    I wonder if he meant “Qaddafi democracy”. You really need to read Qaddafi’s Green Book to get an idea of what he’s talking about. It’s hilarious.

  4. mpw280 says:

    Well looking at most of africa and the middle east, everyone should have the right to vote with a gun to their head. He should know he was raised in it and on it. mpw