Examination of World Leaders Part 5

EXAMINATION of 167 WORLD LEADERS (Jan. 2017)

Key: SWP = Share of World Population; SWW = Share of World Wealth/PPP (2015);

L. = Leaders; MWA = Median Wealth per Adult; P = Population (2016);

m = million; B = billion; T = Trillion; k = thousands; Sources at bottom; N/A = not avail.

500K-1B

4.2m/.06%/.1%

32k

In 1899, Kuwait became a British protectorate, but it was not until WWI that Kuwait’s boundaries were determined and that it gained recognized independence (1914).  After WWI Arab border conflicts continued until 1923.  In 1937, US-British Kuwait Oil Company found oil reserves.  Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) was founded and owned in great part by Anglo-Iranian Oil Co (AIOC), which in 1954 became known as British Petroleum Company (BP); and by Gulf Oil (Mellon family) which was part of Standard Oil of California (Chevron; who owns also Texaco).  Standard Oil was a monopoly oil company owned by Rockefeller that was forced to break up by Congress.  In 1974, the Kuwait National Assembly took 60% control of KOC.  After WWII, the Kuwaiti sheikh controlled half of the oil reserves.

In 1960, Kuwait became one of the founding members of OPEC.  In 1961, Kuwait became independent and the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem (11^th ruler of the Al Sabah family) became an Emir; that year they joined the Arab League.   In 1962, Kuwait became the first Arab state in the Gulf to establish an elected legislature under a monarchy.   In 1976, Emir Sabah (12^th) suspended the National Assembly.  He died in 1977, and his son Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad al Sabah (13^th; reign 1977-2006) recalled the Assembly, only to dissolve it in 1986.

In 1980, the Iran-Iraq War began and Kuwait stood with Iraq.  July 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing its oil.  August, 1990 Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army invaded Kuwait and threatened British- US oil interests.   From 1958 to 1970 the price of oil was stable at about $3 a barrel. The price of oil in 1974 was about $18 a barrel, in 1981 during the war it went over $80 and settled back after the War to under $20 in 1988.  The Gulf Wars rocketed the price to over $120 a barrel in 2007.  Wars made the families of leaders and elite oil barons billionaires (as well as the families over the Central banks to lent to the Oil Companies).  All the while innocent children were killed and orphaned.

In 2003, the Second Iraq War began.  In 2006, Prince Sheikh Saad Al Sabah became the Emir after the death of his father.  His nephew Sheikh Nasser became the Prime Minister then.  In 2011, the Emir dissolved parliament and replace his PM following protests.  In 2012, the Emir blocked legislation demanding laws comply with Islamic law.   Parliament reconvened only to be dissolved again October 2012 and again June 2013 and again October 2016.  Kuwait is under a type of monarch dictatorship.  Bribery and corruption is widespread in Kuwait business and government operations.  It is difficult to know the al Sabah families worth, but likely over a billion US dollars.

In the 8^th century Muslim Arabs invaded this land.  By 1200, Kyrgyz people settled in the land.  Their origins are debated whether a mixture of tribal migrates of Hun Chinese, Mongols, Turks and or Russ (Russian).  By 1685, the Oirats of Mongolia conquered Turkish tribes.  Then in 1758, the Oirats were defeated by the Chinese empire.  By 1876 the Russians conquered the land and it came into the Russian empire.  During WWI the Russians suppressed a rebellion, but for years Civil wars continued until about 1923.   At that time it was part of Turkestan under the Soviet Socialist Republic, which in 1936 became known as the USSR.

In 1996 the First Summit Meeting of the ‘Shanghai Five’ came together to discuss border conflicts (China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan).  The 2002 2^nd SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Summit was held in China-Kyrgyzstan and their people held joint military exercises.

In 2005, Kurmanbek Bakiyev became president and Felix Kulov was nominated Prime Minister by Bakiyev (but rejected by the people).  In 2006 the people held mass protests and demanded reform due to crime and corruption; by December the government resigned and new parliament elections were ordered.   December 2009, opposition Journalist Pavluk was murdered after establishing a new opposition newspaper.

In January 2009, President Bakiyev ordered the US air base in Manas closed after Russia offered a $2 billion loan to their nation.   Then, by July, the US agreed to pay triple the agreed lease amount ($60 million) and Bakiyev extended the lease; and agreed to a 2^nd Russian air base.  In April 2010, Bakiyev resigned after protests and he fled to Belarus.

In June 2010, about 200 people were killing in conflicts between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek groups.  Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes.  November, Bakiyev and 27 other former officials went on trial for ordering protesters shot (convicted in 2013; including 2 of Bakiyev’s sons living abroad).  October 2011, PM Atambayev became president.  June 2012, NATO was allowed to use routes for Afghanistan evacuating of military.  Shortly after, Russian President Putin was told that their base lease would not be renewed in 2014.  In 2016, PM Sariyev resigned after corruption allegations.  Corruption was also found in the operation of Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, Kumtor.

In 1954, Civil war began and continued until about 1975 when the Communist Lao People’s Front seized power.  King Vatthana was forced out and died in captivity; and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was declared.  Yet, elections were not held until 1989.

In 1992, after the death of Phomvihane, PM Siphandon became the head of the LPRP (Lao People’s Revolutionary Party).  In 1998, Siphandon was elected President of Laos and reelected in 2001.  In April 2016, former Vice Pres. B. Vorachith became president.

The people of Laos are very poor; civil servants receive very low pay and reports have revealed that salaries for physicians are less than an average $200 per month and police officers less than $30 in 2012.  In 2015, minimum wage reform was sought at about $100 per month (approximately 800,000 kip) – but not realized.

N/A

5.7k

1841-1848 Peasant revolts to place; and from 1905-1907 a Revolution.  In 1915, during WWI Germany invaded the land.  And 1917-1918 the Russian revolution took place; during which time Germany occupied and control Latvia.  In 1918 the War for Freedom began when the Latvian National Council proclaimed their nations’ independence, and a peace deal was reached in 1920 with the Soviets (Russia).  It was not until 1939 that a non-aggression pact was reached with the Germans and Russians.  During WWII Russia attacked parts of Latvia.  The Russians and Germans fought for Latvia land until 1945 when Latvia became part of the Soviet Union until 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russian Federation recognized Latvia as its own sovereign state.

In 2004, Latvia joined the EU and was admitted to NATO.  In 2011, President Valdis Zatlers dismissed the parliament and called for new elections.  Days later he was deposed and Andris Berzins became president of Latvia.  In 2014, they adopted the Euro currency.  July 2015, Vejonis of the Green Party became the 9^th president of Latvia.

N/A

6.3k

In 661, Muawiyah I, founder of the Umayyad dynasty, became governor of Syria (which included Lebanon).   In 1125, Tyre was taken by Christian Crusaders.  However, Sultan Saladin the Great and the Mamluks expelled the crusaders.  By 1516 Ottoman Sultan Selim I ruled the territory.  Over the next several decades the Ottomans and Arabs under Fakhr had conflicts over the region.  The British joined the Ottoman Turks in 1840; and by 1860 Napoleon III of France sent thousands of troops to Beirut.  In 1880, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon were all part of Syria and under Ottoman rule.

In 1912, before WWI began, Italy bombed Beirut and went to war against the Ottoman Empire.  In 1916, the Sykes-Picot (British/French) Agreement put Syria and Lebanon under French control, and Britain claimed the Mandate of Jordan, Iraq, Palestinian and the Gulf States oil region.   In 1941, Lebanon proclaimed independence.  In 1948, mass strikes took place protesting corruption.  A decade later, 1958, the country was in Civil War, and again in 1975-1978 and off and on to 1990.

In 1982, pro-Israel presidential candidate Gemayel was assassinated.  And in 1983, several suicide attacks, including one on the US Embassy, left hundreds dead.   In 1991, the National Assembly ordered the dissolution of military groups, except for Hezbollah.  In 1992, multi-millionaire Rafik Hariri became the PM of Lebanon.  In 2004, the UN demanded that Syria remove troops from Lebanon; they did not comply, but rather assassinated Hariri with a car bomb in Beirut.  It was not until 2008 that Syria and Lebanon entered diplomatic relations.  However, the government collapsed in 2011 and Hezbollah took controlling positions.  Conflicts between Syrian Hezbollah and the Lebanese continued and in 2013 the EU listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.  That year the UN revealed that about 700,000 Syrian refugees were in Lebanon.  January 2015, Lebanon enacted restrictions on Syrians entering the country.  Conflicts continued by Al-Qaa, Assad’s Syrian nationals, and ISIS through 2016.  October 2016, Maronite Christian Michel Aoun became the 13^th president of Lebanon.   Back in 1989, Aoun had declared a ‘War of Liberation’ against Assad’s Syrian army.  In 2017, Lebanon has more than 1 million Syrian refugees and tensions are felt from ISIS or Islamic State (IS) terrorists.

Millions

.7k

In 1868 the British annexed Basutoland and make part of the country a ‘protectorate.’  The next year the British made a treaty with the Boers to divide much of the land.  In 1881, Basuto (Sotho) chiefs go to war against their Cape colony rulers due to a law that Africans there are not allow to carry weapons.  In 1884, Lesotho was made a British colony. Struggles continued; yet during WWII about 20,000 Sotho soldiers fought with the British.  In the 1950s a new surge for independence raises, and in 1966 Basutoland gained its independence under the name Lesotho.  King Moshoeshoe II became the monarch and Chief Jonathan the PM.  After internal conflicts in the 1970s in 1980 Lesotho joined SADCC with 8 other African nations.  In 1990, the King was sent into exile by the BCP party and his son Letsie III became king.  In 1994, Letsie through a coup oust the BCP government; but through external political powers the BCP are reinstated in 1995.  In 2005, voters are allowed their first local elections to choose representatives.  In 2009 the PM survived an assassination attempt.  In 2014, PM Thabane suspended parliament after a failed coup.  March 2017, the people protest that PM Mosisili must open parliament after King Letsie III dissolve the kingdom’s Parliament.  Though the people are very poor the nation makes others rich with diamond and water exports (through the countries often suffers food shortages and occasional droughts).  Thahane (who was also former deputy gov. of the S.A. Reserve Bank) and other political leaders have been accused of corruption, including defrauding the people during a farming project and water projects.  Many local leaders and police are corrupt.  Lestie is worth > tens of millions, but hard to determine.

N/A

.7k

Then in 1989, Charles Taylor led the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) in invading the land and ousting President Doe (killed in 1990) and his regime.  For years the NPFL rebels attacked ECOMOG peacekeepers, as well as anyone that stood against them.  There were occasionally peace agreements, but mostly conflict and war.  In 1997, Taylor won the presidency.  His regime was accused of supporting RUF rebels in Sierra Leone.  Due to Taylor’s wickedness, Liberia was put under US, UK and UN sanctions.  In 2003, Taylor was officially indicted for war crimes by the RUF.  He was exiled to Nigeria until he was arrested in 2006 and tried by the UN ICC (International Criminal Court).  The trial was delayed and took years; in 2009 Charles Taylor denied all charges at his War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague.  However, it was revealed that he (the first African leader to stand trial for war crimes) oversaw a regime where about 500,000 were killed; and tens of thousands of civilians tortured, raped, sold into sexual slavery, and all subjected to systematic mutilations and evil.  Taylor was one of the most evil rulers in modern history; and in 2012 (at age 74), though he should have been dragged though their streets, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison – 1 per 10,000 of his countrymen killed in the civil war.  Part of Taylor (the world of corporate diamond buyers) crimes was trafficking blood diamonds of Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast.  The 2006 movie ‘Blood Diamond’ exposed this industry and genocide.

November 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman to be elected to an African head of State.  She took office January 2006, was reelected in 2011 and is currently serving in office.  There election process is a long process over months, but is to take place this 2017.  In 2016, more than 4,800 people died from the Ebola virus in Liberia.  The country’s people remain very poor despite their rich resources: iron, gold, rubber, timber, oil, diamonds and rich soil for agriculture.

N/A

5k

In 1521, Barka (north-east Libya) came under the administration of the Ottoman Empire.  About 200 years later, in 1711, the Karamanli dynasty came to power in Tripoli, though the Ottoman Empire retained power.  At that time slaves were being ‘traded’ from Libyan ports.  In 1911, Italy invaded Libya; the next year 1912, the Ottoman Empire gave up its claim over Libya.  After WWI the Italians colonized part of Libya and hunted for their oil; and in 1943, after the Axis powers of WWII (namely Germany and Italy) could not hold the region; Libya came under the control and Great Britain and France.

In 1949, Cyrenaica became independent and by November, the UN granted Libya independence.  In 1950, Emir Idris became the king of Libya and in 1951 declared the United Kingdom of Libya.  In 1956, two American oil companies were given rights to Libyan oil for 12.5 royalties and 50% of the profits.  By 1957, a dozen companies were operating about 60 different concessions; including Hunt Oil of America, Compagnie of France, Conoco and Marathon.   Esso, Oasis and BP also got in on pipeline deals.   When BP failed on 8 wildcat concessions, they bought a half share of Hunt’s concessions and starting exporting the resource in 1967.  Occidental and Mobil soon joined the club.

In 1969, Colonel Gaddafi deposed king Idris in a military coup.  In 1970 the last of American and British troops left Libya (the oil companies stayed with contract security).  Between 1972 and 1974, Libya went through periods of merging with Egypt, then Tunisia.  In 1975, there was a coup attempt, followed by years of conflicts.  In 1977, Gaddafi declared the ‘people’s revolution’ and changed the country’s name to the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah.  In 1980, civil war began in Chad and Libyan troops intervened.   In 1981, the US shot down two Libyan jets that confronted there fighters over what was argued to be Libyan air space.  Tensions continued until the US bombed Libyan military buildings in 1986, killing over 100 people.  Libya responded with ‘terrorists’ acts such as in 1988 (Lockerbie bombing).  In 1995, Dictator Gaddafi expelled about 30,000 Palestinians from the country in protest of the Oslo Peace Accords between the PLO and Israel.  In 2006, 10 people were killed in clashes with police in Benghazi.  In 2009, Gaddafi was elected chairman of the African Union.   In 2010, Russia and Libya work out a $1.8 billion arms deal where Russia supplied them with jets, tanks, and an air defence system.

In 2011, inspired by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, protestors take to the streets of Benghazi and other cities.  February 2011 Moammar Gadhafi (Gaddafi) refused to leave office.  Conflicts between Gaddafi’s regime and the NTC continued until Gaddafi was tracked down and killed October 2011; his son Saif al-Islam was caught and killed November.  On the anniversary of 9/11 in 2012 (though warnings and pleads were made to the state department) the US ambassador and 3 Americans were killed by Islamist militants.  In 2014, ISIS gained much power in Libya, where they also trained ‘soldiers.’  Ten of thousands of Libyans were displaced due to fear and conflicts.  January 2017, the United States bombed ISIS camps in Libya.   Fayez al-Sarraj became Chairman of the Presidental Council of Libya in 2016.

This small country between Switzerland and Austria declared its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1719.  Napoleon granted the nation sovereignty in 1806, but it did not become fully independent until 1866. In 1938, Prince F. Josef II ascended to the throne.  Prince Hans Adam II, son of Franz Joseph II, one of Europe’s richest monarchs, has a personal worth over $4 billion and controlled a family worth of $7.6 billion in 2016.  He is from a long line of the Liechtenstein dynasty (from Castle Liechtenstein in lower Austria and Bohemia given by the Habsburg rulers) – the family which by hereditary and constitutionality rules the country which was founded in 1608.  Prince Hans-Adam, who married his second cousin, owns LGT banking group (brother Prince Philip is president of LGT).   Liechtenstein is known for money laundering and tax evasion; in 2000 BBC News reported the police raided one of the ruling family’s LGT bank and seized documents of money laundering by Colombian drug cartels and the Russian mafia.   Judge Wille of their country has been quoted saying, Hans Adam ‘frightens people, that’s his style.’   The Liechtenstein ‘Joseph’ family vetoed a people’s initiative for democracy in 2012.

During WWI Germany troops occupied Lithuania; and after the war in 1918, Lithuania declared independence.  Again in 1939, at the start of WWII, the USSR (Russia) occupied Lithuania and began mass deportations of its citizens to Russian Siberia work camps.  Both the Germans and Russians fought in and over Lithuania.  By 1944, over 500,000 Lithuanians were deported, exiled or killed.   In 1987, the people began mass protests against the Soviets and in 1989, Lithuanian communists voted to break from Russia’s Soviet party.  That year, 1989, their Parliament declared the country’s sovereignty and in 1990 Lithuania became independent.  In 1991, they joined the UN and in 1993, the last of the Russian soldiers left the nation.  In 2004, Lithuania joined NATO and the EU.   In 2008, their Parliament banned the public use of Nazi and Soviet symbols.  In 2009, Dalia Grybauskaite became the first woman president of Lithuania and was reelected in 2014.

Luxembourg was founded as a Castle city in 963; at that time Belgium was part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.  In 1120, the Church of St. Peter was built in the city.   In 1346, Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and in 1347, he was crowned King of Bohemia. In 1443, the Philip the Good and (French) Burgundians conquered the city.  In 1477, Luxembourg and 16 other provinces became property of the Habsburgs.  From 1618, the beginning of the Thirty Years War to 1697, the region was in conflict.  From 1684 to 1697 the French ruled, until 1697 when it was returned to Spanish Habsburgs.  And again the French took control from 1795 to 1814.  In 1815 the Prussians (Germans) took control according to the Treaty of Paris that year.

In 1949, Luxembourg joined NATO, and in 1957 under the Treaty of Rome it was one (1) of the six (6) founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC) which would become the EU under the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.   They accepted the Euro in 2002.  April 2009, the G20 added Luxembourg to the ‘grey list’ of countries with questionable banking arrangements.  July 2009 the OECD reported that the nation improved its financial transparency exchanging tax information with many other countries.   June 2016, two accountants formerly with PricewaterhouseCoopers were convicted of leaking corporate tax documents revealing deals.   In 2000, Henri A. G. Felix Marie Guillaume became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and is still ruling in 2017.  He is the first cousin to Philippe, King of the Belgians; and his mother was Princess Charlotte of Belgium.  His father was also the Grand Duke and his maternal great-grandfather was Adolphe, the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1890) who married Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhalilovna, niece of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.  Adolphe’s sister Sophia was the Queen of Sweden and Norway.  Henri of Luxembourg comes from the House of Nassau (founded in 1344 by John I, who was adopted by Emperor Charles IV).

It is said that Caranus established the territory and became the first Macedonian king in the 7^th century BC.  About 437 BC Athens founded Amphipolis in Macedonia.  About 338 BC Philip of Macedonia defeated the Greeks.  In 316 BC, Thessalonica was founded.  In 150 BC Macedonia became a Roman province.   In 395 AD the Roman Empire split into the Western and Eastern Empires.  Macedonia became part of the Eastern (Byzantine).  About 535 the Slavs occupied the land.  Basil I, late 9^th century was the first Macedonian Byzantine emperor.  Rebellions and conflicts continued off and on for centuries.  Just before WWI, in 1912 Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians joined 100,000 Macedonians to defeat the Turks in the land.  After WWII Macedonia was again part of Serbia.  At the end of WWII, in 1945, Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia.  In 1945 the first government of the People’s Republic of Macedonia was founded; Kolisevski was the president.  In 1991, the voters wanted independence and in 1992 the government resigned after mass demonstrations and protests against the people’s will.  Yugoslavia then granted Macedonia’s independence and in 1993 they joined the UN.  In 1995, President Gligorov survived an assassination attempt.  From 1996 to 2001 tensions arose between their Albanian citizens and others.  In 1999, Trajkovshi became president; then he was killed in a plane crash in 2004.  Crvenkovski was elected president and protests continued by their ethnic Albanian minority.  Politics between Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo and Serbia delayed NATO acceptance.   In 2009, Ivanov became the 4^th president of Macedonia; he was reelected in 2014.  In 2016, thousands of citizens took to the streets in protest after President Ivanov pardoned 56 politicians involved in a corruption scandal.

Madagascar          Rajaonarimampianina     N/A     24.4m/.3%/< .05%                     .2K

This African island nation was settled by explorers from southeast Asia by the 1st century BC.  Thus much of its population is Austronesian.  About 1000 AD Bantus from south-eastern Africa settled on the island.  In the late 18^th century its ports were home to European traders and pirates; and slave trade was among its businesses.   In 1817, the slave trade was temporary abolished; but not entirely until 1896.  In 1883, France invaded Madagascar and held control until after WWII.  In 1947 during the Malagasy Uprising thousands were killed; and conflicts continued until 1960, when Madagascar gained independence and Tsiranana became its president.