The world is run by old men in a hurry
The advanced age of leaders is a destabilising force in international politics
Add BT as a preferred source
EUROPE, not America, is the great exception.
In a world of nation states, it has the supranational European Union. In a world that understands the permanence of violence, it came to believe that it had transcended such things. (Hence the embarrassed rush to rearm now.) And in a world of old leaders, its Emmanuel Macrons and Giorgia Melonis stand out ever more as prodigies.
The numbers should amaze us. Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin are all in their 70s. So are Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil. The president and supreme leader of Iran are 70 and 86, respectively. The presidents of Nigeria and Indonesia are each 73.
TRENDING NOW
Qatari LNG ship struck in Strait of Hormuz, testing US talks
DBS, OCBC and UOB shares hit all-time highs as sentiment improves
‘Baptism of fire’: Andre Khor on leading Singapore refiner Aster through an energy crisis
Singapore retains top spot as most expensive city for HNWIs, with five Apac cities in global top 10
