Saturday, March 19, 2011

Muslim dictators "buying control" of British universities

IPT has written about how money from middle eastern regimes - including, but not limited to, Libya - has gone to British colleges, and only now is it becoming scandalous:
Before the revolution in Libya, British universities had a much more welcoming attitude toward taking money from dictators. In 2009, Simcox authored a report for the CSC spotlighting the role of repressive regimes in funding British universities. He found that regimes like those in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia “were essentially buying control over British academia.”

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal appointed university management committee members in Edinburgh and Cambridge. Durham University accepted cash from Iran and admitted that “pro-regime speakers” had been permitted to monopolize a school event. And Beijing was permitted to establish educational centers it termed part of its “foreign propaganda strategy.”

Though no similar study has been done, American universities have similarly courted endowments from some of the same players.
Then it's time to start investigating them too. You'll note that the Saudi prince mentioned is also very chummy with Rupert Murdoch, something still not widely discussed, which is very troubling. Is it not time to raise this as a serious issue?

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