By launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has started the first war in Europe for a generation, defying the post-Cold War international rules-based order and inflicting great suffering on millions of civilians in the process.

Putin seems to be a unique threat to the world order right now, but in many ways he is part of a broader wave of self-styled strongmen who have emerged since 2000 in capitals as geographically, culturally and politically diverse as Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara and Riyadh. And in 2016, with the election of Donald Trump, they found a surprisingly sympathetic ear in the White House. These are men who instinctively understand and give succour to one another: they are nationalists and social conservatives with little tolerance for minorities, dissent or the interests of foreigners. At home, they claim to be standing up for ordinary people against global elites; abroad, they position themselves as the embodiment of their nation. Why has this style of leader come to predominate in so much of the world?

In April 2022, the FT’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Gideon Rachman, who has himself been in the room with many of these individuals, came to Intelligence Squared to explain the strongman phenomenon. While others have tried to understand the emergence of these new leaders individually, by drawing on the themes of his new book, The Age of The Strongman, Rachman revealed the complex, and often surprising, interaction between these leaders. He argued for a bold new paradigm to understand the new world of nationalism – a world in which, as of February 24, ‘nationalism’ involves – for Vladimir Putin at least – launching an unprovoked attack on a democratic neighbour.

Praise for The Age of The Strongman

‘A carefully written analysis of strongman leaders all over the world and the threat they pose to liberal democracy. Drawing on a wide range of sources, and providing a truly global perspective, Rachman illuminates the common instincts, tactics and behaviour that link leaders as diverse as Trump, Putin, Xi and Modi’ – Anne Applebaum