A delegation from Durham University flew to Kuwait in February to build what it termed ‘academic
partnerships’. They succeeded. On Monday afternoon, Durham University announced the formation of the ‘Al-Sabah Programme in International Relations, Regional Politics and
Security.’ In an internal document sent to academic staff, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Higgins, revealed that that this seat had been ‘funded personally by Sheikh Nasser
Al-Sabah of Kuwait’, the Kuwati Prime Minister, and that the ‘£2.5million endowment will support the Al-Sabah Chair, associated research and two PhD studentships in
perpetuity’.
Al-Sabah has made what is politely termed a singular contribution to democratic traditions. He was appointed in 2006 by his uncle, the Emir. He was embroiled in a embezzlement scandal in 2008. Opposition leader Khaled al-Fadalah was imprisoned last July for ‘defaming’ the Prime Minister; and Mohammad Abdulqader al-Jassem, a prominent journalist, was imprisoned for offending al-Sabah last December. The government has responded to the recent Arab Spring protests by closing Al-Jazeera and cracking down on dissent. The United Nations frequently condemns the country’s baleful human rights record.
A phalanx of the academic staff is horrified. Quite aside from the moral issue, they worry that these ‘academically questionable’ partnerships are sullying the reputation of their institutions. As one concerned don at Durham puts it, ‘Our ethos, heritage, academic pedigree and long-held values and friendships are, I fear, dissipating in a puff smoke’.
The scandals at the LSE and Liverpool John Moores University (which raised more than £1.2million from the Gaddafi regime) elicited similar outrage in academic circles and there is no doubt that the prestige of the LSE in particular has suffered.
The government is keen for foreign students to attend British universities, recognising that the sector is a key industry. Dignitaries from universities have accompanied government trade delegations to India and China. This week, Nick Clegg and David Willetts went to Mexico with 5 vice chancellors to extol the virtues of a higher education at one of Britain’s ‘historic institutions’. Academics and politicians fear that those virtues have been debased by credulity.
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