Interesting discussion at Stumbling and Mumbling on the effectiveness of assassinating leaders.
This study by Ben Olken concludes that
- successful assassinations of autocrats produce sustained moves toward democracy
- failed assassination attempts can prolong tyrannical regimes
- successful assassinations do not lead to change in democracies
- the frequency of assassination for world leaders is one every two years or a 0.3% probability each year
- successful assassinations tend to intensify mid-level conflicts but hasten the end of high-intensity conflicts.
Conclusion - rather than ban the Australian cricket team from touring Zimbabwe, John Howard should hire a hitman to take out Mugabe.
Machiavelli wrote on this in The Prince for those wishing to read further on this subject.
Also - how important do you have to be for your violent death to be an assassination rather than just murder?
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