How to handle populists: a CEO’s survival guide

THIS year, Western bosses must work their way through a lengthy list of obsequious phone calls. Around 80 countries, home to some 4 billion people, are holding elections in 2024 (not always freely, as in Russia in March).

Some chief executives may already have drafted their compliments for Narendra Modi, who is almost certain to keep his job as prime minister of India, where citizens are now casting ballots in a weeks-long festival of democracy. After Mexico’s election in June, most corporate leaders expect to be congratulating president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, the anointed successor of the incumbent, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Western firms working to reduce their reliance on China have turned to India and Mexico. But neither prospect fills them with unadulterated delight.