Middle East and Africa suffer a ‘First Family curse’

There is an almost dynastic presence in the Middle East. The presidents there, their sons and wives have a tendency to think that the Office of the President is a hierarchical affair, something to be enjoyed by a single family. Their mothers, it seems, borrow a leaf from the old adage: ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’. However, it is the boys who enjoy the temptation to take over from where their fathers have left off.

In Syria, Bashar Al Assad succeeded his father, Hafez

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