UK Universities Are Educating the Next Generation of Criminals, Tyrants, and Despots

Home to some of the world’s most highly reputed and prestigious universities, the United Kingdom has always attracted students from around the world. Institutions the caliber of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and the London School of Economics are considered the best places for molding the leaders of tomorrow. Instead, however, many of these institutions, known or unknown to university administration, are steadily becoming havens for the children of some of the most nefarious criminals, tyrants, and despots, raising serious ethical questions into the complicity of UK universities in both the exploitation for personal benefit of their institutions along with universities’ positions as “launderers” of horrific reputations.

Recent years have only solidified the fact that many elite, historic, institutions are being used as what Joseph Nye called “soft power tools”, by many of the world’s most questionable characters. For the children of despotic rulers and corrupt oligarchs, their children attend elite institutions as far more than just “students”; these are investment is in their own political and economic futures, affording access to networks, and credentials that will help solidify a family's influence and perpetuate control. The case of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbek dictator, Islam Karimov, whose legacy, according to Human Rights Watch, is “a quarter of a century of ruthless repression” is a prime example. Despite accusations of vast human rights abuses and embezzling billions of dollars from the Uzbek state, Karimov was able to send his daughter to the prestigious École Internationale de Genève before she attended Harvard University. The Harvard example is not a UK one, however, it reflects a broader trend whereby Western educational institutions have become havens for the children of despotic regimes.

Looking at North Africa, the case of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the deposed Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, is an interesting, albeit ironic one. Saif obtained a PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2008, submitting a PhD on "The Role of Civil Society in the Democratization of Global Governance Institutions." The irony will not be lost on those familiar with the fact that Saif himself was not only the dictator’s son, but himself directly associated with one of the most repressive governments of the 21st century, and was implicated in the horrendous rule of his father and accused of “crimes against humanity”.

As if the story did not have enough twists and turns, later, after it became known that Gaddafi's PhD had been, as one might expect, plagiarized, the LSE thought it appropriate to accepted a £1.5 million donation from the Gaddafi Foundation—an organization funded with wealth stolen from Libya's state coffers. Although the scandal that followed led to the resignation of the director of the LSE, it is yet another example of reputable institutions being exposed to the temptations of dirty money.

The infiltration of UK universities by the children of criminal elites is not restricted to students from historically authoritarian states. UK universities also provide a safe haven for those with close ties to the Kremlin, such as the offspring of oligarchs or Kremlin associates. Take, for example, the case of Niels Troost, a Dutch oil trader who has been accused of evading Western sanctions through a complex network of subsidiaries, one of which is based in Dubai and run by a sanctioned associate of his, Francois Edouard Mauron, that traded in sanctioned Russian oil. Despite these allegations, and his own sanctioning in the UK, his son Sebastian is currently enrolled at the University of Bath, one of the most prestigious universities in England. Although this is apparently of little concern to the university administration, it is highly likely that both his tuition and associated expenses are being funded by money that has been illicitly obtained through sanctions evasion. The fact that UK universities and its government do not find it necessary to scrutinize funding sources for students from such backgrounds raises disturbing questions about the complicity of its academic institutions in laundering ill-gotten gains and legitimizing tainted wealth.

Cases such as these are not stand-alone exceptions. Rather, they represent a disturbing trend on the increase, with UK universities becoming the educational destination of choice for the children of the global elite, regardless of how their families may have come to amass their fortunes. The influx of questionable students poses a problem on two fronts which should be of concern. Firstly, it undermines the integrity of the higher education system, which may be second to none in terms of their academic credentials however, their integrity, which is undermined by accepting such students, should not be seen as any less important. Second, it provides the autocrats and criminals of the world place to quite literally “purchase influence” in the UK and Europe, while leveraging newfound connections to further the interests of corrupt regimes. Universities must stop compromising on their value systems in their pursuit of profit-making, accepting both tuition fees and generous donations without questioning the source. This can only be addressed by complimenting more selective financial processes with tougher measures being put in place to vet those accepted to study in such elite institutions.