Most Modern Politicians are Maniacs
This article is not an endorsement or criticism of any politician, or their actions, anywhere. Rather, this article is meant to provide a bit of perspective.
It’s probably safe to assume that by the time you read this, you’re aware of the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election. Against almost all conceivable odds, Donald Trump will be returning to the White House in 2025. It’s probably also safe to assume that you’re aware he’s far from being a conventional president, not least of all because he completely lacked a career in politics before his first term began in 2017.
However, populist presidents around the world, also in some rather major countries, have done some spectacularly evil things that Trump never even attempted. Below is a showcasing of how, and why, most modern politicians around the world are more than a bit crazy.
Prabowo Subianto
Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia. Source: Ministry of State Secretariat
Indonesia’s eighth president was inaugurated on the 20th of October in a lavish display in front of a palace in Jakarta. As a frontrunner in his election campaign from February 2024, Subianto enjoyed the endorsement of then-president Joko Widodo, whose son is serving as vice president under Subianto in a move that has certainly raised more than a few eyebrows.
What’s closer to the centre of the spotlight, however, are Subianto’s alleged war crimes, which include the abduction and torture of democracy activists in the 1990s (13 remain missing), as well as the committing of “atrocities” against separatist forces in East Timor and West Papua. The lack of proper education over the challenging years prior to 1994 in Indonesia, however, signify that many young people are either not aware of, or uninterested in, Subianto’s violent past.
Jair Bolsonaro
The former president of Brazil is probably the most directly comparable to Donald Trump. Bolsonaro’s authoritarian approach to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated his desire to be a dictator in the midst of crisis. This included the outright objection to the use of WHO-approved vaccines, instead preferring questionable cures with minimal (if any) scientific backing, became most noticeable when Bolsonaro rejected US-manufactured vaccines for over seven months while a far less effective and more expensive vaccine produced by a contact of Bolsonaro’s was quickly cleared for approval.
Bolsonaro’s devastation of the Amazon rainforest is equally well-documented. At a UN conference in New York, he pushed back against the idea that the rainforest was a “heritage of humanity”, instead declaring that they belonged to the Brazilian people, allowing him to turn a blind eye while loggers and large-scale livestock ranchers cut down the forest for economic gain.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Source: Reuters
Few groups are free from persecution in Erdogan’s Turkey. Since he took office 18 years ago, ethnic Kurds, women, LGBT people, and democratic institutions have all fallen within his crosshairs. In 2019 alone, more than 36,000 people faced criminal investigations for criticising Erdogan online, with nearly 9600 being sent to prison for doing so.
Corruption in Turkey under Erdogan has also found a somewhat unexpected home: New York. Numerous contributions to city and state politicians have been traced back to groups associated with Erdogan, including more than $40,000 from just 16 people donated to a single politician from New York in the US House of Representatives. The mayor of New York City has also been indicted over allegations of accepting bribes from Turkish officials.
Rodrigo Duterte
Arguably the most outrageous character on this list, Duterte is notorious from his time as mayor of Davao and president of The Philippines. The former president became infamous from his “war on drugs” in the Philippines, which authorised vigilante groups and security forces to kill suspected drug users and dealers on sight - a widely alleged crime against humanity. Many of the police officers responsible for these killings - approximately 30,000 of which took place to date - further admitted to falsifying data to justify murders.
In fact, in October 2024, Duterte admitted to personally maintaining death squads while mayor of Davao to track down and kill drug users and dealers. These groups, consisting largely of local gangsters and crooked police officers, were encouraged by Duterte to provoke targets into violence before killing them in manufactured self-defence. Throughout his questioning, Duterte remained defiant, stating in reference to the drug cartels that “I hate drugs, make no mistake about it. If given another chance, I’ll wipe all of you.”.
It’s pretty clear then, that while Donald Trump is no saint - he’s certainly not alone in this regard and, if anything, is fairly normal by international standards.
TAI Score: Degree 4. Populist leaders are undeniably domestic threats, even if nominated for their position by popular vote. In the case of Turkey and Indonesia, these leaders have very real potential to cause diplomatic incidents and cross-border conflicts. Within their own countries, they can often serve to erode democratic norms and crack down on minority groups before consolidating their positions to rule for far longer than their political systems intend.
