The Old Men Leading the World are a Menace – Their Nationalism, Gerontocracy, and Delusions Threaten Us All

I voted for the woman 🤷🏾‍♂️

Welcome to the boomertocracy where the most consequential leaders are led by men over 70. That is rather significant for a relatively young world, but surely these old men have elderly wisdom in contrast to the impulsive recklessness of the youth?

Nope! Daniel Chirot breaks down the dangerous delusions of the major world leaders and how they threaten the world.

Xi Jinping’s delusional grandiosity is that he can repress even the slightest kind of domestic dissent but sustain a fully vibrant capitalist economy dependent on exports and a first-class scientific establishment while restricting dangerous contacts abroad. Additionally, his ambitions for Taiwan and the South China Sea, claims only dating from the Qing dynasty threatens global stability.

Khamenei fantasizes that Iran can dominate the Middle East, endlessly repress its population, and spread its version of extremist Islam. That vision has already failed, but its aged, unpopular, fanatical leader remains in power. 

Putin’s delusions have been the most obviously exposed of all these cases. The war against Ukraine can produce no benefits as Russia has neither the capital nor the ability to restore a destroyed society. Areas it has conquered are mired in poverty and vicious repression. Far from turning Russia into the great world power it seeks to be, on par with the dead Soviet Union, Putin has reduced it to being a Chinese dependency.

Erdoğan’s dream is to create a kind of neo-Ottoman Empire. He enjoys dressing up his guards in antique Ottoman costumes and makes sure to emphasize that past in official histories. He interferes militarily in Syria and Iraq and tries to help anti-Israeli actors. He has backed Hamas and Islamic anti-regime factions in Syria. Can Turkey reclaim some sort of control over former Ottoman domains? At what price and to what end? 

Modi’s militant Hinduism persecutes India’s huge Muslim minority of about 200 million. He allied himself with Sheikh Hasina, until recently Bangladesh’s corrupt dictator, and now that she has been overthrown he finds himself with a hostile Muslim neighbor. He has global ambitions, and his management of the Indian economy has been mostly successful, but his push to make Hindi the only national language and Hinduism the dominant religion threatens that success.

Perhaps Netanyahu has been too successful to be included in this list? No. Netanyahu’s political alliance with ultra-orthodox religious fanatics, the Haredim, is a long-term internal menace for Israel. They are about one-fifth of Jewish Israelis, but a key political ally for Netanyahu. These are not the Israelis at the heart of its tremendously successful science and technology. They take resources away from the state, but they inadequately educate their children, and many won’t even serve in the military.

Finally there is Donald Trump. Will he enact his high tariff policy? That would start the kind of trade war that prolonged the Great Depression of the 1930s. It would neither bring in enough revenue to compensate for massive tax cuts or help more than a few American industries. It would stoke inflation. Will Trump strip America of its allies? That would embolden America’s enemies, chiefly Russia and China, to be more aggressive. Will his appointees destroy key institutions like the FBI, the CIA, or the IRS? Only criminals, foreign enemies, and tax dodgers can benefit. His is a delusional world peopled by personal, mostly American, enemies to be destroyed, and by sycophantic followers to be humored. Personal greed motivates him. A lot of businesses think they can benefit, and Wall Street agrees, but the less-than-rich, less-white, less-traditional Americans will be left out. Good luck America!