NickM Posted February 7 Posted February 7 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?
Sinistar Posted February 7 Posted February 7 i do not assume that there are not wimmins who simply would not do it per their mating and pairing strategies given the status and position of the men you are talking about
Stuart Galbraith Posted February 7 Posted February 7 3 hours ago, NickM said: 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? So did Assad.
NickM Posted February 7 Author Posted February 7 (edited) Just now, Stuart Galbraith said: So did Assad. Well Fook Me! I thought Bashar's wifey was French. But anyways, she was also Syrian Arab, not a "honky/gringa" Edited February 7 by NickM
TrustMe Posted February 7 Posted February 7 (edited) It's common for both Jordan and other middle eastern states like the UAE to send the kings sons to Sandhurst for military training. They are then tied to the British military / culture. I don't think it's due to their wives. Off topic but Assad late ruler of Syria's wife was also British. Edited February 7 by TrustMe
NickM Posted February 7 Author Posted February 7 5 hours ago, TrustMe said: It's common for both Jordan and other middle eastern states like the UAE to send the kings sons to Sandhurst for military training. They are then tied to the British military / culture. I don't think it's due to their wives. Off topic but Assad late ruler of Syria's wife was also British. 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
RETAC21 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 11 hours ago, NickM said: 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? Your definition of "successful" is curious, but anyway, it seems more chance than anything else. As Stuart mentions Asma al-Assad is also a Brit and doesn't seem to have any influence on her husband.
NickM Posted February 7 Author Posted February 7 34 minutes ago, RETAC21 said: Your definition of "successful" is curious, but anyway, it seems more chance than anything else. As Stuart mentions Asma al-Assad is also a Brit and doesn't seem to have any influence on her husband. Successful means not collapsing into anarchic kleptocracies. And anyway, "frau Assad" was still of Syrian nationality
RETAC21 Posted February 7 Posted February 7 15 minutes ago, NickM said: Successful means not collapsing into anarchic kleptocracies. And anyway, "frau Assad" was still of Syrian nationality There is also this: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-brilliant-m16-spy-who-perfected-the-art-of-the-honey-trap
Stuart Galbraith Posted February 8 Posted February 8 On 2/7/2025 at 4:20 PM, NickM said: 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 They still do it. There was a documentary on about Russian infiltration of Lawrence Livermore laboratories. Back in the 1990's a few atomic Scientist went over to Russia to inspect what was going on, and came back with Russian wives. The conclusion was that at last one or two of them were KGB trained, and the Russians just went on playing the old games, whilst Lawrence Livermore went to sleep.
Stuart Galbraith Posted February 8 Posted February 8 23 hours ago, RETAC21 said: Your definition of "successful" is curious, but anyway, it seems more chance than anything else. As Stuart mentions Asma al-Assad is also a Brit and doesn't seem to have any influence on her husband. There was quite an embarrassing photoshoot of her in vogue, taken the Syrian desert in 2011, implying she would help her husband to bring in Democratic change, or at least liberalisation. Quite hilarious looking back on it. Well it would be, if over 150000 hadnt subsequently died. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/the-only-remaining-online-copy-of-vogues-asma-al-assad-profile/250753/ https://www.bidoun.org/articles/a-rose-in-the-desert Well, I dont wish her harm, Its not entirely her fault she married a homocidal dickhead I guess. He was supposed to be an optician. Should have gone to specsavers...
NickM Posted February 8 Author Posted February 8 41 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said: They still do it. There was a documentary on about Russian infiltration of Lawrence Livermore laboratories. Back in the 1990's a few atomic Scientist went over to Russia to inspect what was going on, and came back with Russian wives. The conclusion was that at last one or two of them were KGB trained, and the Russians just went on playing the old games, whilst Lawrence Livermore went to sleep. Mmmmmm that KGB 'pussy'! Let's hear it for Jenn Lawrence and 'Red Sparrow'.
NickM Posted February 8 Author Posted February 8 34 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said: There was quite an embarrassing photoshoot of her in vogue, taken the Syrian desert in 2011, implying she would help her husband to bring in Democratic change, or at least liberalisation. Quite hilarious looking back on it. Well it would be, if over 150000 hadnt subsequently died. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/the-only-remaining-online-copy-of-vogues-asma-al-assad-profile/250753/ https://www.bidoun.org/articles/a-rose-in-the-desert Well, I dont wish her harm, Its not entirely her fault she married a homocidal dickhead I guess. He was supposed to be an optician. Should have gone to specsavers... And Bashar was considered the weakest of Hafez's kin: didn't Bashar have an older brother who was being 'groomed' for the family business until he went and splattered himself in a car crash? I feel Bashar was happy being an eye doctor in London.
Stuart Galbraith Posted February 8 Posted February 8 (edited) 20 minutes ago, NickM said: Mmmmmm that KGB 'pussy'! Let's hear it for Jenn Lawrence and 'Red Sparrow'. Yeah, they sadly didn't look like that. More Grey Sparrow. Personally I'd be Kim Philby for a JLaw, but I'm just a slut that way. He was going to be an eye doctor. Bet he regrets the career choice now. Still, always can get a job at Specsavers in Moscow. Edited February 8 by Stuart Galbraith
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