You’d think that world leaders would be a bit more mature. But in between flashy international summits and press conferences packed with reporters, the world’s presidents and prime ministers have one thing on their minds: their place in history. Their childhood dreams of being immortalized as modern day Napoleons and Alexander the Greats led them to public service in the first place. They all have big egos. They all want to look good on TV.
But passing dull economic reforms through Congress doesn’t make that happen. History remembers the globetrotting diplomat, the decorated war hero who at the end of the day can claim to have saved the world. The life of a president or prime minister concerned with world issues is always the most glamorous one.
But the common man cares about the economy’s day-to-day concerns, not highflying international diplomacy. So before a president runs after his childhood dreams, he has to first make sure that people’s bellies are full enough to at least stave off a revolution. Once that’s done, however, the presidency becomes an egotist’s playground, and on the way to history (and satisfied egos), presidents drag their countries into all sorts of detours.
Take for example France’s current president, Nicholas Sarkozy, who was elected to fix France’s slowing economy. He’s gradually dealing with those boring domestic affairs as president of France, but seems to prefer acting as the European Union’s ambassador to the world.
He led his fellow Europeans in condemning Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia by hopping back and forth between Paris, Moscow and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, with a media crew in tow. In response to another disaster, this year’s financial crisis, Sarkozy set up last month’s summit of the world’s most powerful nations, which aimed to do no less than revive capitalism from the ashes of the current financial crisis.
In between state visits, he comes home to his supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, with whom he appears with on the covers of French tabloids. Sarkozy’s rockstar image has broken the mold of a typical French president. Ironically, while some celebrities want to become president, this president wants to become a celebrity.
So as an international jetsetter married to a supermodel, a president whose greatest asset is supposedly his ego, it would definitely be interesting to read through Nicholas Sarkozy’s psychological profile. Even more interesting would be that of the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.
Once you learn that Putin is a Russian with a black belt in judo, you can connect the dots and not end up very far from the truth. Over the last few years, Putin has made antagonizing the West his top priority. He has threatened to choke Europe of its oil supplies, and has opposed America’s construction of a missile defense shield over Europe (while aiming ballistic missiles at them). His choice of friends says a lot about him: he gets along with anti-American leaders from Venezuela and Iran.
Putin’s claim to historical fame, however, is his 2008 invasion of Georgia. An event unheard of since the Cold War, Putin came out and unveiled unto the world his newly resurgent Russia, acting as if the Berlin Wall never fell. The world was shocked by the defiant Russian strongman but didn’t give much of a response. You can imagine Putin grinning to himself in private, content with his shot at history.
The sad thing is that the public is victim to Sarkozy’s misadventures, and certainly Putin’s. Both are taking time away from matters more important to the common man. Sarkozy is busy living the life of a celebrity while indulging himself in the grandeur of international diplomacy. Topping that, Putin is ostracizing Russia from the world to the dismay of Russia’s political and economic interests. These are world leaders acting irrationally, fueled by bombast and testosterone, listening to their egos instead of their economic advisors, and compelled to chase after history by voices in their head. They aren’t deliberately trying to hurt their countries, but their egos are doing so anyway.
In 1762, the philosopher who inspired the French Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, wrote that people are only free on Election Day and are subject to their leaders’ abuses from then on. That’s no longer the case in today’s vibrant democracies—protesters make sure that leaders stick to the course they were elected to. But the public does tolerate minor egotistical detours (Putin and Sarkozy are still in power), acknowledging them as facts of life. There’s a difference between a leader who betrays his ideals, and one who fulfills them while satisfying his ego.
If politicians aren’t in it for the money, then they’re at least in it for the fame. Who says that you can’t help the world and at the same time help yourself by securing a place in history? Every leader in history has done this. That’s why they’re a part of history. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are times when, unlike with Putin and Sarkozy, the personal detours that land a leader in history turn out to be good for the country, too.
India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru was an interesting character. Educated at Cambridge, Nehru had a bookish love for history and strong, idealistic beliefs that brought Indian diplomacy to places it otherwise wouldn’t go to. After gaining independence from the British, he was in control of a poor country unlikely to lead the world. He made it happen anyway. Foreign affairs became this third world democracy’s top priority as he became the leader of the non-alignment movement, a group of countries that chose to remain neutral in the Cold War, and inspired peaceful independence movements in other colonies around the world. The idealistic Nehru secured India’s place in the world
In the same way, even Imelda Marcos’s collection of shoes made the Philippines a household name. Though, as with Nehru, it’s debatable how useful that actually was.
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