PrintNovember 6, 2012
Why Obama Must Go
One overlooked influence on Barack Obama's political philosophy and governing style (if those are the terms I'm groping for) involves the Islamosocialist dictator typical of Islamic states during the mid-20th century.
This class of ruler was washed up in the wake of the colonial period, as the Western imperial states retreated with no serious efforts to assure stable governments left behind them. Strongmen then stepped into the vacuum.
Superficially, these leaders resembled Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the legendary figure who, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, took Turkey by the scruff of the neck and dragged it into the modern age. But Kemal was sui generis. None of his successors had his ability or his vision, or were able to obtain the same results.
The prototype of the post-colonial Islamosocialist tyrant was Gamel Abdel Nasser, an Egyptian army officer who rose from lower-middle-class origins (he was...(Read Full Article)
