Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson Inspired New Breed of Strong Leaders
“These are men who never let law undermine order” says Ian Bremmer in a Time essay “The ‘Strongmen Era’ Is Here” about a new class of tough, strong politicians in the tradition of Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson, “who push past weak-willed bureaucrats, corrupt politicos and political correctness to restore justice in violent times.”
Simply put, established religions need help in rescuing traditional values and morals, and President Trump is the just-in-time answer, implies the article: “The U.S. is now emerging from another period of sweeping social change, economic anxiety, urban crime and pointless wars, which again has stoked demand for a tough-talking vigilante to pay weak-minded liberals a lesson. But this time, he isn’t a creation of Hollywood. He lives in the White House, and he’s playing his role with gusto.”
Standing up to corrupt, media-controlled versions of Western liberal democracies is also a theme in Brenner’s new book Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism. In the article, Brenner says that “This trend is not confined to the U.S. In every region of the world, changing times have boosted public demand for more muscular, assertive leadership. These tough-talking populists promise to protect ‘us’ from ‘them.’ Depending on who’s talking, ‘them’ can mean the corrupt elite or the grasping poor; foreigners or members of racial, ethnic or religious minorities. Or disloyal politicians, bureaucrats, bankers or judges. Or lying reporters. Out of this divide, a new archetype of leader has emerged. We’re now in the strongman era.”
For Brenner, once-appropriate US foreign policy for combatting Communism now seems out-of-place, its political machinery inept and unsure about what to do: “The systems that powered the Cold War’s winners now look much less appealing than they did a generation ago. Why emulate the U.S. or European political systems, with all the checks and balances that prevent even the most determined leaders from taking on chronic problems, when one determined leader can offer a credible shortcut to greater security and national pride? As long as that rings true, the greatest threat may be the strongmen yet to come.”
