Money Talks...

Dear Friends

It is very easy to trash the London School of Economics (LSE) for their links to the Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi. However, the government has slashed University funding consequently these bastions of knowledge will have to and are diversifying their income streams.  Every University across Great Britain loves international students and powerful foreign alumni. Who else is going to fund cutting edge research and pay the bills?

Granted the links between LSE and the Libyans predates the current funding crisis in Higher Education (H.E) however they were doing some excellent work especially training Libyan civil servants. Surely the H.E route is an excellent way to promote the rule of law and democracy across the world especially in the Muslim World which is rotten to the core?

On the other hand it can be argued that western educated elites in the Muslim World are merely extensions of neo-colonial powers and oppress the indigenous masses and culture. Take for example the Brown Sahibs of Pakistan such as the late Benazir Bhutto or Imran Khan.

The events in the middle-east have caught everyone by surprise especially London and Washington.  This is the 1989 moment for this region and hopefully South Asia is next...

Salaam

Faisal