They don’t see threats coming until it’s too late.
They hear only from sycophants, and get bad advice. Rather than being long-term planners, many make catastrophic short-term errors-the kinds of errors that would likely have been avoided in democratic systems. Reality doesn’t conform to that rosy theory.Īutocrats such as Putin eventually succumb to what may be called the “dictator trap.” The strategies they use to stay in power tend to trigger their eventual downfall. Our elected leaders, this view suggests, are no match for the tyrant who gazes into the next decade rather than fretting about next year’s election. In my research, I’ve persistently encountered a stubborn myth-of the savvy strongman, the rational, calculating despot who can play the long game because he (and it’s typically a he) doesn’t have to worry about pesky polls or angry voters. I’ve studied and interviewed despots across the globe for more than a decade. To answer that question, you have to understand the power and information ecosystems around dictators. In the span of a couple of weeks, Vladimir Putin-a man recently described by Donald Trump as a strategic “genius”-managed to revitalize NATO, unify a splintered West, turn Ukraine’s little-known president into a global hero, wreck Russia’s economy, and solidify his legacy as a murderous war criminal.
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