The Age of the Strongman

"The failure of democracy in the United States would have been a cataclysmic global event. The last fifteen years have seen the most sustained decline in political freedom around the world since the 1930s. But throughout the 1930s, the two most powerful countries in the world, the United States and Britain, remained liberal democracies. If Trump and his supporters had succeeded in thwarting a democratic election, America’s traditional role as ‘leader of the free world’ would have ended. The two most powerful countries of the current era, the United States and China, would both have been in the grip of authoritarian nationalism. Trump’s defeat in 2020 does not mean that the danger has passed."

This could be an opening paragraph for a political thriller scrolling up and away from the bottom of the screen into a world where the battle between autocracies and democracies unfolds on our screens and lives.

From the global threats of Putin and Xi Jinping to hot spot leaders such as Modi, Erdogan, Orbán and Bolsonaro, you may not speak their language, be able to discuss the pros and cons of their leadership styles and would struggle to find their countries on a map, but what they stand for influences our present and future.

The Age of the Strongman does not feature the controversial businessman Andrew Tate, but the themes of the book relate to the public fascination with such personalities. He is a self-styled modern man with extreme views, but he has a presence, a brand and people are listening and watching. His "War Room" is advertised as a "global network in which exemplars of individualism work to free the modern man from socially induced incarceration.” (LinkedIn, 2023).

Although Tate has been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group, his portrayal in the media is arguably more positive than the actor Alec Baldwin who is pleading not guilty after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting on the set of his film "Rust". Baldwin has played tough guys for the silver screen and earned plaudits for impersonating President Trump for comedic effect to hold truth to power. Now he is embroiled in the aftermath of a real-life tragedy, recognisable as a man, not the characters he has portrayed.

Reputation matters

Whatever your profession, reputation or arena, confrontation is a test of your manliness. How you use the weapons at your disposal matters. Image matters. Being tough matters. Being left behind and losing matters. Law and order only matter when you fear the consequences. You look up to the strongmen who fight for you and do what you can’t. That’s what strongmen depend on; your dependence and loyalty, even though you will never meet and they could not care less about you.

“Both Trump and Erdogan were nationalists who had promised to make their nations respected and feared again. Both leaders also used their countries’ bitter social divisions as a means of bolstering their political support.”

“A bitterly divided country makes it easier to persuade your followers to tolerate the erosion of civil liberties, in the interests of political victory over domestic enemies. A true dictator can force an entire society to accept his lies. He does this, in large part, by establishing his absolute authority over all the institutions of the country.”

The value of institutions

Institutions have to stay strong in the face of adversity to counter disinformation and uphold the law and our values. Microsoft Word may have a squiggly line wanting me to change ‘have to’ to ‘must’. It is hard to resist nudges and instructions especially when you aren’t sure what you want to say.

“Trump revelled in the rhetoric of strength. In the speech he made on 6 January 2021, urging his supporters to march on the Capitol, Trump declared: ‘You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.’” It appears Trump does not listen to Microsoft Word or Grammarly either, but strongmen are not fools.

They are the modern protagonists to those who believe they are better. “Throughout the Age of the Strongman, liberal internationalists have looked for champions of democracy around the world: political leaders who can hold back the tide of populist nationalism.”

The favourite tools of a strongman leader include the imprisonment of dangerous opponents – drumroll for Vladimir Putin who imprisoned his rivals Alexei Navalny and Mikhail Khodorkovsky’. Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Moscow Center said about Putin: “Maybe he was always brutal, but now he has decided to be brutal freely, openly and without restrictions.”

Goodies V Baddies

Burke’s Triumph of Evil quote which has even been adapted for Star Wars to show children the difference between goodies and baddies is pertinent as superpowers plan for universal expansion where no one can hear you scream.

All it will take for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.

All that is necessary for the forces of evil to take root in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.

All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men to remain silent.

These wise words need to be updated to emphasise the importance of women in saving the world. I recommend The Age of the Strongman because it covers the ideological powerhouses in its articulation of how strongmen believe that globalism is disrupting the stability and future of countries.

Saving the world

International cooperation is no longer in fashion. Culture wars, battle for ideas, superpowers offshoring in developing countries as the risk of civil war increases in nations that should know better. Anyone can talk about deep fakes and fake news but to understand how the world works involves a lot of reading. While you’re busy reading, the wheels of power are turning.

Can BBC’s The One Show put the world’s strongmen on the sofa to help everyone understand what is happening or is it just life? What happens when an enemy crosses the Rubicon?

Disclaimer: The content of this blog is entirely my opinion and does not reflect the opinions of any organisations I am affiliated with.