Gideon Rachman

The Age of The Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy around the World Gideon Rachman

We are in a new era. Authoritarian leaders have become a central feature of global politics. Since 2000, self-styled strongmen have risen to power in capitals as diverse as Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington. These leaders are nationalists and social conservatives, with little tolerance for minorities, dissent or the interests of foreigners. At home, they claim to stand up for ordinary people against globalist elites; abroad, they posture as the embodiments of their nations. And everywhere they go, they encourage a cult of personality. These leaders are not just operating in authoritarian political systems but have begun to emerge in the heartlands of liberal democracy. While the EU referendum and election of Donald Trump in 2016 mark a watershed, the new era started at the beginning of the millennium, when Vladimir Putin took power in Russia. How and why did this new style of strongman leadership arrive? How likely is it to lead to war or economic collapse? And what forces are in place not only to keep these strongmen in check but to reverse the trend? From Trump, Putin and Bolsonaro to Erdogan, Xi and Modi, The Age of the Strongman provides the first truly global treatment of the new nationalism and offers a bold new paradigm for understanding our world.