i think that one of the interesting things about the current generation of strong man leaders is because they are often very, very historically aware. So when puton writes, a year ago last summer, an essay on the historical unity of russians and ukranians, he's looking to er establish his netian history but also potentially justifying very radical actions. Are after all, how many people did peter the great kill building saint petersburg, and yet he's remembered as the great? Well, i mean, and there are similar things happening in your book, aren't they?
In The Age of the Strongman, the journalist Gideon Rachman explores how populist and authoritarian leaders have become a central feature of global politics. Since Vladimir Putin took power in Russia at the beginning of the new millennium, self-styled strongmen have emerged across the globe, from Trump and Bolsonaro to Orbán, Xi and Modi. Rachman tells Tom Sutcliffe how these leaders have taken power and the challenge they pose to liberal democracy.
Judy Dempsey is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of the Strategic Europe blog. She explains how Viktor Orbán has tightened his grip on power in Hungary, while the EU has dragged its heels. And how Putin’s war in Ukraine has not only exacerbated pre-existing global divisions but divided Europe as well.
History is littered with powerful leaders, and Christopher de Bellaigue, tells of the rise of one of the most feared – Suleyman the Magnificent. In The Lion House: The Coming of a King the 16th century Ottoman Sultan dominates the lives of those from Baghdad to the walls of Vienna.
Producer: Katy Hickman