Nilesh Jasani's Reviews > The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy around the World

In "The Age of the Strongman," Rachman attempts to shed light on the rise of strongman leaders in the modern world. It spends excessive effort describing leaders while failing to analyse the phenomenon sufficiently. Most of the book consists of brief histories and actions of various contemporary strongman leaders, offering little new information or insights.

The book would have benefited from a more in-depth exploration of the causes and effects of this rise in strongman politics as against readily-available and well-known descriptions of these leaders. The sections on leaders read like short encyclopedia entries with little depth or nuance.

The book makes some, but inadequate, mention that strongman leaders are a function of the tide against liberalism. They often appeal to majoritarianism and nationalism while implicitly or explicitly suppressing the rights of disliked minorities. To exploit majoritarian sentiment, they suppress the rights of marginalized minorities, which could be migrant workers, outsiders, or other nationals based on ethnicity, religion, race, or sexual orientation. They perforce reject equalitarian or humanitarian principles and exhibit intolerance toward those who preach tolerance. This reasoning cycle - not discussed in the book - warranted more focus, as it is a crucial aspect of understanding the phenomenon of strongman politics.

Another important factor the book overlooks is the role of direct communication between leaders and their base. In the age of social media and instant connectivity, strongmen bypass traditional media and speak directly to their supporters. The method necessitates more authoritative communication for effect and without the need for compromise or debate with intermediaries like traditional media. Analyzing how this shift in communication has contributed to the rise of strongman leaders would have added depth to the book.

Rachman fails to adequately address the differences between today's strongman leaders and the authoritarians who wreaked havoc in the middle of the last century. Modern strongmen have less military control and fewer freedoms to suppress dissent than their predecessors (this is not true in every individual case, but evident on average).

There are other undiscussed implications of the rise of strongman politics. Positively, these leaders are decisive. They cut through the bureaucratic jangles and rarely tolerate petty fights among their minions coming in the way of decision-making. Of course, their decisions are often wrong, but these days they are rarely wishy-washy.

Negatively, the rise of strongmen is likely to increase tensions and conflicts, both within nations and on the international stage. The book would have been more insightful had it delved into these broader consequences.

Overall, the strongmen prove that there is no end of history in sight. And that's bad!