Answer: The incumbent heads of the ruling regime assumed power via a coup d’état.
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COMMENTS / 13 COMMENTS
Lexington Green added these pithy words on 12 Mar 08 at 4:17 pmI would rather be working third shift at a pancake house in the good old USA than be dictator of any of those places.
Michael Hancock added these pithy words on 12 Mar 08 at 7:11 pmAssuming you eat other places than your own establishment, Lexington, your life expectancy is definitely greater.
Alfred Russel Wallace added these pithy words on 12 Mar 08 at 11:10 pmI had forgotten that Hamad bin Khalifa, the Emir of Qatar, had deposed his father – at least it was bloodless…. (so they say!)
Rommel added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 2:03 amI wouldn’t mind being the Bey of Tunis or Tripoli..
Michael added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 2:24 amDouble check the map, you highlighted Bahrain instead of Qatar. Slight quibble.
Curzon added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 4:06 amYeah Lex, haven’t you read or seen “The Man Who Would Be King”?
No comments from any Core-Gapologists as of yet.
Lexington Green added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 3:54 pmHave indeed read and seen The Man Who Would be King.
That story is as good as it gets.
adam w added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 8:13 pmIf you’re going to have Pakistan on the list, you should add Chad and Sudan, who’s leaders also came to power via a coup but have since held rigged elections
Jayson added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 10:14 pm“I would rather be working third shift at a pancake house in the good old USA than be dictator of any of those places.”
Well, these folks apparently prefer to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
BTW, anyone here ever read Luttwak’s “Coup d’etat: A Practical Handbook”? Supposed to be a “classic,” but was written a lifetime ago, so I wonder if there’s anything about the book’s analysis that could (or should) be considered “dated” by now.
Another question: when and where was the last known successful coup to have taken place in a “Western” nation?
Jayson added these pithy words on 13 Mar 08 at 10:17 pmHmm—Fiji’s an interesting case:
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9867423
“...Without peacekeeping missions overseas, it is unlikely that Fiji’s army would ever have become strong enough to seize power.[...]”
Elizabeth added these pithy words on 15 Mar 08 at 11:51 amInteresting that you don’t note the Central Asia “republics” either- many of their leaders have been in power since coup d’etats after Soviet times.
tehag added these pithy words on 20 Mar 08 at 3:22 amI have read Luttwak’s book. I haven’t read it since the early 1980s, but, IIRC, even then I thought it described the palace coup- or putsch-style of replacing a government that was not universal. Luttwak’s book was probably the inspiration for the game, Junta, too. Good game.
