Political Leaders and "Iron Cages"

... in my mind. Abdullah, an intelligent, enlightened monarch like his father King Hussein, was explaining why he was optimistic about the future of the Arab world. He spoke about a new generation of Arab leaders whose views were like his--for example, Bashar Al-Assad. Bashar Al-Assad!!! What!!? Nowadays, Assad hardly looks like an enlightened young leader. On the contrary, he looks like a ruthless dictator, responsible for killing thousands of his people. How could Abdullah have been so wrong in his ...