Types of world leaders during Covid-19

[Yankee-stani]

i

1. Trump. My view is not a secret. He is a corrupt narcissistic conman and a disaster. That does not mean he is wrong about everything and his critics are correct. In some cases his instincts may turn out to be better than those of the bureaucrats and traditional politicians, who maybe fighting the last war with yesterday’s methods (and whose own corruption and blind spots gifted us Trump in the first place). But he is batshit ignorant, he does not want to learn, he is not interested in anything beyond his own welfare. I expect nothing from him. I don’t even think he is seriously thinking about what to do, other than what he can get for his own re-election (see how he has managed to discover that stopping immigration is an anti-viral move at this time). That said, I am aware that there are sane people who like him and I encourage them to tell us more in the comments section
2. Xi Jinping. Comrade Xi and his team are a black box to me. Please add your opinion in the comments section. I do think he is a Chinese patriot and I think China has many competent people at high levels of government and they have high standards of professionalism in midlevel people; I expect them to do some things very well, but it is also a dictatorship; dictatorships breed yes men and sycophants. Which brings us back to Xi, who I dont know anything about. So please comment..
3. Putin. The Czar of all the Russians is clearly an intelligent and capable man. He has been in power for a long time. That breeds overconfidence and limits reality testing. Also, his country has less money than the first two. But the list of outsiders who paid the price for underestimating Russians is a long one; they are an amazing people, regularly screwing up on a massive scale and then regularly performing well beyond expectations. What do you think it will be this time?
4. Merkel. She seems highly intelligent and Germany can never be underestimated, but while I expect her to do a competent job, I do not expect unexpected miracles. No big “out of the box” moves. Which may be a good thing.
5. Modi. His fans love him the way Trumpists love Trump; he is their only hope in an elite that otherwise does not have their pet projects as priority number one. Unlike Trump, he is not a conman, he is probably sincerely trying to make India stronger (whether he is succeeding or not is a separate question). But other than thinking he is sincere, I remain almost completely ignorant about his qualities as an individual. To hear his opponents say it, he is a bigoted non-entity, a “small man”, neither intelligent, nor well informed and certainly not well-intentioned. Supporters have a different view, but I am not sure how much of that is based on any real knowledge of the person, as opposed to his carefully cultivated persona (and their own projections/hopes). As far as i can tell, he is surrounded by yes men, doesn’t take criticism well and keeps his private thoughts to himself (in this at least, he is the polar opposite of Trump). So the bottom line is, I don’t know if he is capable of something above and beyond whatever capabilities the Indian state has collectively. Those abilities may be good enough (or better than nothing), but that does not seem to hold out the hope of any “out of the box” brilliant moves. Conversely, it also means they will not do crazy stuff.
6. Imran Khan. The less said, the better. I will be happy if his regime turns out to have done about average. I fear they may do worse than average.
7. Bojo. Baby Churchill may not be Churchill. Lets hear it in the comments.

https://www.brownpundits.com/2020/04/23/leadership-in-crisis-times-who-is-your-wallfacer/

 

[Thamizh Puli]

i

1. Trump. My view is not a secret. He is a corrupt narcissistic conman and a disaster. That does not mean he is wrong about everything and his critics are correct. In some cases his instincts may turn out to be better than those of the bureaucrats and traditional politicians, who maybe fighting the last war with yesterday’s methods (and whose own corruption and blind spots gifted us Trump in the first place). But he is batshit ignorant, he does not want to learn, he is not interested in anything beyond his own welfare. I expect nothing from him. I don’t even think he is seriously thinking about what to do, other than what he can get for his own re-election (see how he has managed to discover that stopping immigration is an anti-viral move at this time). That said, I am aware that there are sane people who like him and I encourage them to tell us more in the comments section
2. Xi Jinping. Comrade Xi and his team are a black box to me. Please add your opinion in the comments section. I do think he is a Chinese patriot and I think China has many competent people at high levels of government and they have high standards of professionalism in midlevel people; I expect them to do some things very well, but it is also a dictatorship; dictatorships breed yes men and sycophants. Which brings us back to Xi, who I dont know anything about. So please comment..
3. Putin. The Czar of all the Russians is clearly an intelligent and capable man. He has been in power for a long time. That breeds overconfidence and limits reality testing. Also, his country has less money than the first two. But the list of outsiders who paid the price for underestimating Russians is a long one; they are an amazing people, regularly screwing up on a massive scale and then regularly performing well beyond expectations. What do you think it will be this time?
4. Merkel. She seems highly intelligent and Germany can never be underestimated, but while I expect her to do a competent job, I do not expect unexpected miracles. No big “out of the box” moves. Which may be a good thing.
5. Modi. His fans love him the way Trumpists love Trump; he is their only hope in an elite that otherwise does not have their pet projects as priority number one. Unlike Trump, he is not a conman, he is probably sincerely trying to make India stronger (whether he is succeeding or not is a separate question). But other than thinking he is sincere, I remain almost completely ignorant about his qualities as an individual. To hear his opponents say it, he is a bigoted non-entity, a “small man”, neither intelligent, nor well informed and certainly not well-intentioned. Supporters have a different view, but I am not sure how much of that is based on any real knowledge of the person, as opposed to his carefully cultivated persona (and their own projections/hopes). As far as i can tell, he is surrounded by yes men, doesn’t take criticism well and keeps his private thoughts to himself (in this at least, he is the polar opposite of Trump). So the bottom line is, I don’t know if he is capable of something above and beyond whatever capabilities the Indian state has collectively. Those abilities may be good enough (or better than nothing), but that does not seem to hold out the hope of any “out of the box” brilliant moves. Conversely, it also means they will not do crazy stuff.
6. Imran Khan. The less said, the better. I will be happy if his regime turns out to have done about average. I fear they may do worse than average.
7. Bojo. Baby Churchill may not be Churchill. Lets hear it in the comments.

https://www.brownpundits.com/2020/04/23/leadership-in-crisis-times-who-is-your-wallfacer/

what an astute and succinct analysis! I find little to disagree. Some gaps that I will comment after lunch

 

[masterchief_mirza]

India-centric click bait. There is a market-oriented psychology behind such blogs. Indian commenters love to splurge over such blogs that offer crude dismissals of anything Pakistani.

Now honestly speaking, clearly Khan is genuine in his patriotism, means well and does the best he can for the Pakistan he believes in. Yes he blunders often but he's surrounded by idiots who should know better. Not exactly sure what these bloggers are expecting Khan to do. He's also honest and knows what the main problem is with Pakistan's ability to deal with the pandemic or any major disaster - Pakistanis. Whether it's mullahs congregating, Sharifs looting and hiding in England, the opposition dampening his efforts for political gain, or the usual marasi media, he is fighting a one-handed fight against all sorts of internal and external threats.

Pakistan made several smart moves - leaving students in Wuhan while initiating relief packages to China early on was bang on. Iran didn't help us one bit with their lackadaisical approach early on. Khan didn't set up quarantine facilities adequately in the west. Afterwards, Khan did well with chloroquine diplomacy and rightly ignored Indian criticisms of his partial lockdown approach - he found a plan that works best for Pakistan in view of its numerous limitations. Lately he has let the clerics gain ground against him though.

Overall a mixed result for Khan but the final reckoning awaits. The pandemic is far from over and hitherto, Pakistan has been lucky I feel.

 

[Yankee-stani]

India-centric click bait. There is a market-oriented psychology behind such blogs. Indian commenters love to splurge over such blogs that offer crude dismissals of anything Pakistani.

Now honestly speaking, clearly Khan is genuine in his patriotism, means well and does the best he can for the Pakistan he believes in. Yes he blunders often but he's surrounded by idiots who should know better. Not exactly sure what these bloggers are expecting Khan to do. He's also honest and knows what the main problem is with Pakistan's ability to deal with the pandemic or any major disaster - Pakistanis. Whether it's mullahs congregating, Sharifs looting and hiding in England, the opposition dampening his efforts for political gain, or the usual marasi media, he is fighting a one-handed fight against all sorts of internal and external threats.

Pakistan made several smart moves - leaving students in Wuhan while initiating relief packages to China early on was bang on. Iran didn't help us one bit with their lackadaisical approach early on. Khan didn't set up quarantine facilities adequately in the west. Afterwards, Khan did well with chloroquine diplomacy and rightly ignored Indian criticisms of his partial lockdown approach - he found a plan that works best for Pakistan in view of its numerous limitations. Lately he has let the clerics gain ground against him though.

Overall a mixed result for Khan but the final reckoning awaits. The pandemic is far from over and hitherto, Pakistan has been lucky I feel.

I do understand where you going with in terms of English Language media regarding Pakistan the "Indians" act as a middle man for the world and western understanding of Pakistan but the thread was mainly about world leaders and their responses to Covid19

 

[masterchief_mirza]

I do understand where you going with in terms of English Language media regarding Pakistan the "Indians" act as a middle man for the world and western understanding of Pakistan but the thread was mainly about the main world leaders and their responses to Covid19

Oh absolutely. I fully understand the nature of the post itself and it does a nice job in its descriptions of many leaders but obviously panders to a certain audience in its style, shall we say. I guess I'm just adding some "bulk" to the minimalist assessment of Khan.

 

[Kamikaze Pilot]

i

1. Trump. My view is not a secret. He is a corrupt narcissistic conman and a disaster. That does not mean he is wrong about everything and his critics are correct. In some cases his instincts may turn out to be better than those of the bureaucrats and traditional politicians, who maybe fighting the last war with yesterday’s methods (and whose own corruption and blind spots gifted us Trump in the first place). But he is batshit ignorant, he does not want to learn, he is not interested in anything beyond his own welfare. I expect nothing from him. I don’t even think he is seriously thinking about what to do, other than what he can get for his own re-election (see how he has managed to discover that stopping immigration is an anti-viral move at this time). That said, I am aware that there are sane people who like him and I encourage them to tell us more in the comments section
2. Xi Jinping. Comrade Xi and his team are a black box to me. Please add your opinion in the comments section. I do think he is a Chinese patriot and I think China has many competent people at high levels of government and they have high standards of professionalism in midlevel people; I expect them to do some things very well, but it is also a dictatorship; dictatorships breed yes men and sycophants. Which brings us back to Xi, who I dont know anything about. So please comment..
3. Putin. The Czar of all the Russians is clearly an intelligent and capable man. He has been in power for a long time. That breeds overconfidence and limits reality testing. Also, his country has less money than the first two. But the list of outsiders who paid the price for underestimating Russians is a long one; they are an amazing people, regularly screwing up on a massive scale and then regularly performing well beyond expectations. What do you think it will be this time?
4. Merkel. She seems highly intelligent and Germany can never be underestimated, but while I expect her to do a competent job, I do not expect unexpected miracles. No big “out of the box” moves. Which may be a good thing.
5. Modi. His fans love him the way Trumpists love Trump; he is their only hope in an elite that otherwise does not have their pet projects as priority number one. Unlike Trump, he is not a conman, he is probably sincerely trying to make India stronger (whether he is succeeding or not is a separate question). But other than thinking he is sincere, I remain almost completely ignorant about his qualities as an individual. To hear his opponents say it, he is a bigoted non-entity, a “small man”, neither intelligent, nor well informed and certainly not well-intentioned. Supporters have a different view, but I am not sure how much of that is based on any real knowledge of the person, as opposed to his carefully cultivated persona (and their own projections/hopes). As far as i can tell, he is surrounded by yes men, doesn’t take criticism well and keeps his private thoughts to himself (in this at least, he is the polar opposite of Trump). So the bottom line is, I don’t know if he is capable of something above and beyond whatever capabilities the Indian state has collectively. Those abilities may be good enough (or better than nothing), but that does not seem to hold out the hope of any “out of the box” brilliant moves. Conversely, it also means they will not do crazy stuff.
6. Imran Khan. The less said, the better. I will be happy if his regime turns out to have done about average. I fear they may do worse than average.
7. Bojo. Baby Churchill may not be Churchill. Lets hear it in the comments.

https://www.brownpundits.com/2020/04/23/leadership-in-crisis-times-who-is-your-wallfacer/

@El Sidd

Sorely missing @Karna_007 on topics like this.

@SrNair is not a satisfactory replacement. Not as good.

- PRTP GWD

 

[El Sidd]

@El Sidd

Sorely missing @Karna_007.

@SrNair is not a satisfactory replacement. Not as good.

- PRTP GWD

SrNair should definitely do more

 

[Thamizh Puli]

I agreed will all in OP. Some additions.

1. Trump: It is impossible to like him but not that difficult to agree with him. Immigration, China policy, News media censure - these are points for him. Congressional corruption and incompetence is the multiplier effect on local matters. BUT even for all that, his behavior from the Covid 19 podium in daily briefings have made it diffcult to fathom. Not anything he said to the press reporters but rather his blatant self promotion. BUT leadership is defined as the loudest voice in the room and his is the loudest.

2. Xi Jingpin : projects the strong silent type. The Chinese success story had brought him within inches of the "what he does can only be the right thing to do" legacy - but then Wuhan Corona happened and we saw such daily debacle by the CCP that many in the rest of world woke up to what fools they have been, being deluded into the comfort of made in china. In that respect, Xi is seeing the first dismantling of the Chinese CCP.

3. Putin: Has held what's left of Russia together admirably. Such time he gained may in fact provide sufficient breather for the technically hugely advanced Russian establishment to find a 2nd pole

4. Merkel - excellent but cannot scale.

5. Modi - unless an equally effective successor emerges, the only gains for India are a slightly better survival than before he was elected. Being a really large ship, it is slow to turn around and 2 terms of Modi insufficient for the expectations set

6. Imran Khan - I sense he has found forte of late and trying to focus on Pakistan more rather than on India which didn't get him anywhere. Of late, Let's see if he can be consistent. For any Pakistani leader focusing on Pakistan's issues has been more difficult than focusing outside (likely due to the military establishment control).

7. Boris - he doesn't have any opposition. Brits and labor talk a lot but European Union has badly infected too many Brits and it will take time to recover from that flu

 

[gangsta_rap]

(likely due to the military establishment control).

???

 

[Thamizh Puli]

???

r u asking why or what that mean?

 

[gangsta_rap]

r u asking why or what that mean?

whats a military establishment

 

[Thamizh Puli]

whats a military establishment

the power center of Pakistan comprising of military leaders and emeritus; the cliche which with some self-fulfilled justification, acts and imparts the notion that Pakistan cannot really survive with the practices of a true democratic leader and government or the affectations of a blatant and overt tyrant; and therefore has fashioned for itself a very comfortable king maker role. Thus it is the go to don if the some religious leader or a war lord or an opposition leader or the judiciary gets too bold or noisy. It is also the don to whom the said counter parties go to if the man in power over reaches into their domains.

Such an arrangement has always made it simpler for Pakistani leaders to shout at India or someone else rather than deal with issues at home

 

[gangsta_rap]

the power center of Pakistan comprising of military leaders and emeritus; the cliche which with some self-fulfilled justification, acts and imparts the notion that Pakistan cannot really survive with the practices of a true democratic leader and government or the affectations of a blatant and overt tyrant; and therefore has fashioned for itself a very comfortable king maker role. Thus it is the go to don if the some religious leader or a war lord or an opposition leader or the judiciary gets too bold or noisy. It is also the don to whom the said counter parties go to if the man in power over reaches into their domains.

Such an arrangement has always made it simpler for Pakistani leaders to shout at India or someone else rather than deal with issues at home

what are you talking about?