Autocratic for the People: How the New Tyrants Rule

Authoritarian leaders are dominating 21st century politics. How did this new generation of strongmen rise to power? Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, joins Nick Cohen to discuss his new book The Age of The Strongman, which covers the rise of the modern-day dictator, and what their leadership means for the world.


“There was always going to be a backlash against the ‘end of history’ way of doing things.”

“With the West having gone through the financial crisis, it wasn’t hard for China to say ‘we are the future’.”

“For the key period of getting Brexit done, Boris Johnson did follow the strongman tradition.”

“If Putin had won a quick victory in Ukraine, it would’ve been a huge boost for the strongman ideal.”

”Trump changed the rhetoric of America. He embraced Putin’s arguments.”



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Written and presented by Nick Cohen. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Jade Bailey. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production
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