The Economist - UK (2022-04-09)

76 Culture The Economist April 9th 2022

butcher and basketball star—she draws

readersintoa richbutoverlookedworld.

Shebeginsfromtheviewpointofa mo­

torway patrolman, as if to show that

behindeverybadgeorlabeleveryoneishu­

man.JohnnyFrías hashisownsorrows

andsecrets.Heisalsopartofa tight­knit

groupoffriendswhoselivesandfamilies

thenovelcharts.Eachislovinglydrawn,

despite—orbecauseof—theirdifficulties.

Matelasseisabandonedbya husband

dreamingofa flashierlife.Dante,a young

boyterrifiedoflosinghisparentstoco­

vid­19,takessolaceinthestars.Ximena

toilsindailyterrorofanimmigrationraid.

Terribleeventsabound,includinga police

shooting,theftsandrape.Whatsavesthese

characters,andupliftsthereader,istheir

webofmutualsupport.

LikethoseofLouiseErdrichandWil­

liamFaulkner,MsStraight’snovels(nine

in all)have created afictional universe

rootedinonecommunityandplace.The

authorherselfmovedawayfromRiverside

justonce,tostudycreativewritingunder

JamesBaldwin.Thedeephistoryofsouth­

ernCaliforniaishersubject:thestoriesof

thosewhosefamilieshaveinhabiteditfor

centuries,whethertheywereindigenous

orfirstbroughtasslavesbyMormonsor

Spanishexplorers.HersaretrueAmerican

tales,atonceintimateandepic.

Bytheclosingpagesofthebook,the

readerseeswhyXimenathinksMecca,Cal­

ifornia,isa “holyplace”,too.Setontribal

landinanancientlakebed,itis,likeits

namesake,a placepeoplestrivetoreach,

anda placeofrefuge.n

Authoritarianleaders

Men of the people

W

hatdo xi jinping, BorisJohnson

andPrinceMuhammadbinSalman

haveincommon?Morethanyou might

think,andmorethanisgoodfortherestof

humanity, writes Gideon Rachman, a

columnistfortheFinancialTimeswhopre­

viouslyworkedforTheEconomist. Hesees

allthreemenasproofoftheadventof“The

AgeoftheStrongman”,ashiswide­ranging

andastutenewbookistitled.Theypresent

a threatnotonlytothewell­beingoftheir

owncountries,butalsotoa worldorderin

which liberal, cosmopolitan ideas are

increasinglyembattled.

Itishardtodisputetheviewthatthose

three,alongwiththelikesofRecepTayyip

Erdogan,thepresidentofTurkey,Viktor

Orban,thenewlyre­electedprimeminis­

ter of Hungary, and Jair Bolsonaro, the

presidentofBrazil,sharecertaintraits.To

varyingdegrees,theyallclaimtospeakfor

the common man, while undermining

institutions,stokingnationalismandcul­

tivatinga personalstyleofpolitics,ifnot

anoutrightpersonalitycult.True,MrJohn­

sonhasnotbeenaccusedoforderingthe

murderofanycritics,asPrinceMuham­

mad,betterknownasmbs, hasbeeninthe

caseofJamalKhashoggi(hedeniesit).But

MrRachmanarguesconvincinglythatthe

strongmanstyleisa continuum,inwhich

itsexponents’affinitiesareamplifiedor

muffledbytheparticularpoliticalsystem

inwhicheachoperates.

Itisstrikingtoseehowmanycontem­

poraryleadersfitthestrongmanmould.

WhatwithDonald TrumpandNarendra

Modi,theprimeministerofIndia,allthree

of theworld’s most populous countries

wereledbywould­beoractualstrongmen

untillastyear,byMrRachman’sreckoning.

TheyarepresentinEurope(MrJohnson,

MrOrbanandVladimirPutin),inAfrica

(AbiyAhmed,Ethiopia’sprimeminister)

andAsia(MessrsModiandXi,plusRodrigo

Duterte,thepresidentofthePhilippines).

The MiddleEast furnishes MrErdogan,

mbsandBinyaminNetanyahu,Israel’s for­

merprimeminister;theAmericascontrib­

ute  Mr  Bolsonaro  and  Andrés  Manuel

López  Obrador,  the  president  of  Mexico.

The  roster  includes  royals,  elected  politi­

cians and fully fledged autocrats. And they

are doing huge damage.

The harm is not just to the people they

oppress  or  the  national  political  systems

that  they  corrode.  Strongmen  also  chip

away  at  global  institutions,  international

norms  and  multilateral  co­operation.  Ma­

ny  are  suspicious  of  free  trade.  Few  are

inclined to endure much inconvenience to

curb  climate  change.  They  are  prone  to

adventurism  and  aggression  in  foreign

policy—witness  Mr  Putin’s  murderous

invasion of Ukraine.

But the ongoing war there, which began

after  the  book  was  written,  also  suggests

the  limits  of  Mr  Rachman’s  analysis.  His

strongmen  show  little  solidarity  or  dip­

lomatic  allegiance  to  one  another.  Some

have  sided  with  Mr  Putin,  others  have

opposed him and still others are sitting on

the fence. Identifying someone as a strong­

man is only a partial guide to how he (the

book does not mention any strongwomen)

is likely to behave.

Mr  Rachman’s  most  powerful  point

concerns  not  the  strongmen  themselves,

but  Western  politicians’  and  commenta­

tors’ wishful thinking about them (includ­

ing, on occasion, The Economist). When Mr

Putin  succeeded  Boris  Yeltsin,  he  was

hailed  as  a  man  who  could  stabilise  Rus­

sia’s  listing  democracy.  Mr  Erdogan,  too,

was  greeted  with  optimism,  as  someone

who could reconcile Islam and democracy.

Abiy was going to put an end to Ethiopia’s

ethnic divisions; mbswas going to drag the

Saudi monarchy into the 21st century; and

so  on.  The  world’s  genuine  democracies

may  not  be  to  blame  for  the  rise  ofthe

strongmen,  but  they  have  not  beenvery

shrewd about warding them off, either.n

TheAgeoftheStrongman.ByGideon

Rachman.OtherPress; 288 pages;$27.99.

BodleyHead,£20

A perceptive foreign­affairs commentator charts the rise of strongman rule

Birds of a feather