The Libyan third way.
It's being linked from just about everywhere (thanks to Jamie and commenters) yet this extraordinary piece from four years ago by Anthony "Third Way" Giddens on his visit to Libya deserves even more exposure:
It does show all the signs of the classic invited humbled guest being overwhelmed by the sheer political power wielded by The Leader, as Giddens assures us he is universally known as. More than anything though you would suspect it's the flattery - just as Tony Blair's grasping of the Third Way ensured Giddens's name would go down in political as well as sociological history, it was unthinkable that he'd turn down the opportunity to hear even the most ghastly dictator being complimentary about his main body of work over the past decade. Not that Gadaffi is the only autocrat Blair and friends tried to sell the Third Way to: back in 1998 he suggested to the Chinese they too were followers of the path of triangulation. That same BBC article even discusses the possibility of Giddens being ennobled and joining another load of unelected politicians: 5 years later he duly became Baron Giddens.
It does show all the signs of the classic invited humbled guest being overwhelmed by the sheer political power wielded by The Leader, as Giddens assures us he is universally known as. More than anything though you would suspect it's the flattery - just as Tony Blair's grasping of the Third Way ensured Giddens's name would go down in political as well as sociological history, it was unthinkable that he'd turn down the opportunity to hear even the most ghastly dictator being complimentary about his main body of work over the past decade. Not that Gadaffi is the only autocrat Blair and friends tried to sell the Third Way to: back in 1998 he suggested to the Chinese they too were followers of the path of triangulation. That same BBC article even discusses the possibility of Giddens being ennobled and joining another load of unelected politicians: 5 years later he duly became Baron Giddens.
Labels: Anthony Giddens, Libya, Middle East intifada, politics
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/feb/22/austria.juliahartleybrewer
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asquith |
Thursday, February 24, 2011 6:32:00 pm
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