Re Assad's missus, see above.
There was some ribald commentary back during the cold War, with Arab officers after being trained in the USSR, came back with Russian wives-- much speculation about whether these wives were Intel types or not
Reminds me of an encounter I had while visiting the home of one of my overseas commie relatives: There was a 'local language' copy of Cosmopolitan and both my relative and her husband declared their intense dislike for the mag: as far as they were concerned, it existed only to create discord between husbands and wives and within the household==Given they were both communist party members, they already considered each other as co equals in status.
Gang,
I've noticed that two of the most successful and Pro Western 3rd World leaders in the former British Commonwealth (?) have something in common:
King Hussein of Jordan AND Sir Seretse Khama both married British Wymmyn. So I was wondering IF maybe the Foreign Service groomed these gals 'take one for the team' in order to exercise a degree of 'influence' in their respective countries after independence? What do y'all say?
The sniveling git who wrote the story also works for the New Yorker and the Atlantic? The fact that he's part of 'that' club as well as his questionable adherence to 'facts' over narrative, tells me all I need to know.