23 September 2013

Where are they now? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"After the expiry of his second term he decided to withdraw from political life and started working again as a professor and teaches at the University of Science and Technology.

A situation where the highest state official and a man who wielded enormous power subsequently returns to his  humble position as a university professor job is hard to imagine.

However, the former Iranian president now takes the a bus to work every day and, judging by the photo, looks content."
Photo credit RTS, via In Serbia.  Discussed at Reddit.

8 comments:

  1. A situation where the highest state official and a man who wielded enormous power subsequently returns to his humble position as a university professor job is hard to imagine.

    Really? What else do you think government leaders do (outside the US)?

    The former PM of the Netherlands is a prof now (as well as a very well paid consultant).
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Peter_Balkenende

    In Europe, as a former PM or minister, there are two options:
    * Get a career at some international (EU) organization
    * Become a prof and teach leadership, politics or something vague like that, while getting fat on speech fees, consulting jobs and all kinds of board work.

    Just to note, it's not only the case in Europe, here in DC, there are regular spottings of Rumsfeld at a bus stop near his home.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/03/donald-rumsfeld-struggles_n_163533.html

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  2. Just to add a few profs:
    SecState Albright: http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/albright/
    SecDef Hagel was a prof before he moved to the Pentagon: http://www.georgetown.edu/news/chuck-hagel-nominated-defense-secretary.html

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  3. It is very different to be paid as a high-end consultant and as a professor in a poor university. The second is clearly the case of Ahmadinejad now. He was always a humble character, taken aside his many other flaws.

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  4. He has been doing more than just 'humble work" as an engineering professor (he was trained as a civil engineer). He attended the July 2013 OPEC summit in some role. He publicly (Mehr News Agency) talked about forming a new political organization such as a new political party in July. In August he was named by decree by Khamenei to be member of the Iranian Expediency Council

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    Replies
    1. I, for one, never said he was doing humble work. What I said is that he is a humble character - or has a humble persona, since a man's real character can't be discerned. But yes, iranian universities' salaries are very low. I don't know if thinking about forming a new political party pays well - maybe I should rethink my business strategy - but how much does the Expediency Council pays again?

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  5. Meanwhile, a former US president avoids the limelight and paints pictures of himself in the shower.

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