OK, so there’s an exception to the general rule – a leader I recently wrote about, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (A Zelig – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Barbara Kellerman.) He’s had a good week.
Erdogan, along with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, scored what is widely regarded as a diplomatic coup. Together they are credited with having brokered a surprising and significant agreement between Russia and Ukraine to free 20 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine, thereby alleviating sky high food prices and the mounting threat of hunger crises, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
But Erdogan stands almost alone. Most European leaders are having a bad spell. Not only is the European continent suffering (only worse) from some of the ills plaguing the United States – such as high inflation, the threat of recession, and climate change – Europeans have problems that are uniquely their own. These include declining currencies, in several cases a dangerous reliance on Russian oil and gas, and, of course, a major land war on their Eastern flank.
More specifically:
- Widely disrespected Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned a couple of weeks ago, effectively hoisted by his own petard.
- Widely respected Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned this week, victimized by the unstable politics that forever plague Italy.
- French President Emmanuel Macron suddenly faced calls for a parliamentary inquiry into his dealings with Uber when he was French economy minister.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz interrupted his vacation hurriedly to announce his government was taking a 30% stake in Uniper, the German energy giant otherwise threatened with bankruptcy on account of its dependence on Russian gas.
- Volkswagen’s longtime Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Diess, was pushed from his perch. Key shareholders joined with powerful labor leaders unceremoniously to oust Diess, just when he was poised to turn Volkswagen into a global leader in the sales of electric vehicles.
There is no new lesson here. This litany is no more than, though no less than, a sober reminder of how leading in a liberal democracy has become a tough row to hoe.