Politics at its worst
Conservative writer and columnist Peggy Noonan wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend which talked about the rise of Donald Trump and the growing split in the Republican Party in the United States. When Ms. Noonan, author of The Case Against Hillary Clinton, calls out the problems in her own party, you know there is real trouble. Jim Newell, who writes for Slate, discusses Jeb Bush’s strategy which is to attack the other so called establishment Republicans so he can challenge Mr. Trump and Senator Cruz for the nomination.
The Republican nomination fight can only be described as fractious politics.
Not just in the US
Similar trends can be seen in other parts of the world such as in the United Kingdom where the UKIP is now the third largest force in Parliament or in France where Marie Le Pen’s National Front led the polls in the first round of regional elections.
Fist fights have literally occurred in the parliaments of India, Ukraine and even Japan as well as other counties.
In Catalunya, elections were held on September 27th last year and over the last three months, the two catalan nationalist parties, who ran together, have not been able to build a stable majority with an anti-capitalist fringe party and it looks like new elections will need to be called in March. Things do not look much better at the national level in Spain where the traditionally dominant left and right of center parties lost millions of votes to new formations making it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to form a stable government.
Bad Timing
What concerns me is that in 2016, the world and many specific countries and regions are facing enormous challenges in which real leadership, of the kind argued for by Harvard’s Dean Williams is needed more than ever. These include:
- A sluggish global economy
- The worsening situation in the Middle East where just today Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic relations with Iran
- Other Geo-political hot spots in different places around the world
- The related refugee crisis which European leaders appear to be totally unable to manage in a compelling and forward thinking way
- The looming climate crisis which will require tremendous leadership to implement the historic accord reached in Paris a few weeks ago
- Continued political debates about taxes and sovereignty which is at the heart of the problems in Catalunya and will lead to a referendum on the European Union in the UK
- Issues having to do with water, sanitation and food safety as the world’s population continues to expand in the face of a changing climate
Leaders Needed
Williams believes that the purpose of Leadership to improve the human condition and make progress and that real leaders help people to understand and make sense of the world around them.
We need leaders who can inspire the people of the world to confront the challenges that face us with courage, determination and in a way consistent with the values that we hold to be most important.
Leaders who will put themselves last and their country or even the good of the planet, first and foremost.
We do not need people who appeal to our fears and encourage us to lash out against people of a particular religious belief or offer impractical or even ridiculous solutions to complex problems.
Great post! Leadership, and particularly a lack of authentic leadership has become in a global problem. As the author said, we need, the world needs, leaders who can inspire the people to confront the current. But, why have so many leaders carried-out so many and so large scandals? Why have so many politicians been involved? These questions may apply to several parts of the world but there are specially urgent in Spain right now.