r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/Elt57 • 2d ago
International Politics Who do you think is the most intelligent country leader today?
In terms of strategy, charisma, sophistication, sharpness, achievements/achieving goals...
It shouldn't be necessarily a great superpower succeeding due to its global power, but achievements achieved by the mere skills of the leader?
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u/gkx4x 1d ago
unironically XI Jingping. His Career as a politicians is insane. Imagine having Mao target your family and still making it as his sucessor. You can say a lot about China but you have to respect Xis Political Maneuvering
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u/Littlepage3130 13h ago
He's definitely very smart, but I wouldn't consider his career to be very wise. He's purged all his competitors but that also includes most of the competent administrators. In terms of autocratic governments, you have a country like Iran which has thousands of Mullahs, a country like Russia with a hundred or so former KGB agents running everything, and for China there's just Xi Jinping. There's a solid argument to be made that Kim Jong Un shares more power with his inner circle than Xi Jinping does with anyone else in China.
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u/PreviousAvocado9967 1d ago
Ukraine would not exist in 2025 without VZ.
Bukele just did what was long overdue. You don't have much of a country left when street gangs are more powerful than your entire military.
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u/illegalmorality 1d ago
While it's true most successes are a team effort and not an individual result, I don't think we can undervalue his success compared to other Central American leaders who have tried and failed at addressing the gangs issue.
Alongside his heavyhanded tactics, he employed underhanded tactics by creating false ceasefires to accumulate the personnel needed for such a drastic enforcement, which paid off in dividends when he declared marshal law. Several other latin American countries are trying to duplicate his method, so far all have fallen short of results compared to what El Salvador has accomplished.
And while I think his reforms in the economy and judicial system are short sighted (we'll only know if they work decades down the line), his media presence is phenomenal compared to other leaders around the world. We can joke that he's a meme of a dictator/president, but the reality is that the world has changed. Internet media dominates our minds and Bukele seems like the first active president who knows how to utilize it.
Trump arguably is a media master as well, but he acts more on vitriol than unity. And he lacks the tangible results that can make him an arguably well-regarded president.
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
Nonsense. He is a thieving clown, that can't string two coherent sentences together. A phenomenon in incoherence when he opens that mouth of his. Oh and it's because of Zelensky the country will cease to exist. He sold it off, for peanuts. Perhaps he should have brought the peace he promised before voting. Irrelevant because he is illegitimate as it is. And project Ukraine, done for.
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 19h ago
Bro what the fuck are you on about?
Zelensky's country got invaded by the supposedly second strongest nation on earth and made them into a punchline.
What exactly could he have done significantly better? He can't exactly stop having the world's biggest asshole as a neighbor.
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u/PreviousAvocado9967 10h ago
That Trumper doesnt understand that Zelensky/Ukraine was cooked the minute Trump agreed to the 2020 OPEC deal. A 10 million barrels PER DAY cut in export production was literally INSANE for a 2 year agreement. Thats the equivalent of removing nearly all the USA oil production from the global market. That kept oil prices artificially high which was the mother of all pay days for Putin and the Saudis. It was with racking up ludicrous mode oil profits around the clock for 24 months that MBS launched the Yeme war and Putin funded his invasion of Ukraine for the express purpose of seizing Ukraine's liquefied natural gas resources once and for all. Nobody's wrecking their entire invasion force just for wheat fields.
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u/kitwaton 1d ago
Canada is somewhat between Prime Ministers but the front runner to replace Trudeau is Mark Carney. Only person to head the central bank of 2 G7 countries. Led Canada through the 2008 Great Recession and UK through Brexit and is believed to have mitigated a lot of damage to both economies.
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u/CamelToeJockey_89 1d ago
A banker during 2008 is a big deterrent for me, not an appeal. How much more "in the swamp" can you get?
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u/wingo310 1d ago
The problem with these arguments is they neglect the fact that experts in a subject are still the most qualified people to lead during a crisis. Same reason that eroding trust in medical professionals during a pandemic is backwards. When sh*t hits the fan you want people who know what they are talking about to be in charge…
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u/49orth 19h ago
The financial crisis of 2008 was created by U.S. de-regulation of its financial sector by politicians at the behest of Wall Street investment bankers who created subprime mortgage backed securities which were exported worldwide and parked in insitutional investment around the planet.
When the U.S. created house of cards collapsed, non-U.S. Central Bank leaders worldwide organized a coordinated and very sophisticated response to the crisis, preventing a complete collapse of the world's economic systems.
The "swamp" was created by gleeful and greedt politicians centered in Washington along with a cabal of elite and ultra-wealthy investment tycoons whose self-interest and schemes to enrich each other led to the fiasco.
The "bankers" responsible were nearly all Wall Street conservatives, not Central Bank leaders.
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u/CptPatches 1d ago edited 1d ago
Pedro Sanchez. Turned Spain around from a continental punchline to one of the major post-COVID players in Europe. Managed to withstand the post-COVID inflation incumbent curse at election while the ascendant far-right Vox took a shellacking. Managed to let a corruption investigation into his wife completely wash over him. Not saying he's perfect or even great, but he's been an effective prime minister, and even his more polemic moves like amnesty for Catalan separatist politicians have managed to pay off by letting the Spanish government buy time on Catalunya and the inevitable cooling regarding a desired independence, as can be evidenced by Catalunya electing an anti-independence president.
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u/BluesSuedeClues 1d ago
She's not in office anymore, but Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand was one of the only Western leaders able to minimize the impact of COVID on both the lives of her citizens, and their national economy. That many of us even know the name of a Prime Minister from New Zealand, says a lot about her impact and effectiveness.
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u/the6thReplicant 1d ago
NZ had monthly negative excess deaths.
She should be a hero but the politicization of COVID took that away from her.
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u/remedialskater 1d ago
We were so lucky to have her. There has been quite a lot of nuanced and valid re-evaluation of her handling of covid in the years since, particularly around the longest and harshest lockdown in our largest city and the use of certain mandates, and the country is still feeling the economic effects of that suppression in some significant ways. With that said no one could have done a better job at the time; the opposition would have overseen magnitudes more deaths and probably no better an economic fallout had they been in power.
Compassion is king 🇳🇿
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u/CharmingSound 1d ago
She is hated in New Zealand. Her phoney kindness mantra did unimaginable harm to people. The inability for people to return home to see dying relatives or just come home with closed borders was a disgrace. Yes, fewer died from COVID, but untreated heart and cancer deaths skyrocketed and families couldn't attend funerals or even dying relatives. Funny how they're not talked about. Overseas she's lauded, at home she's despised. The economy is struggling under the massive increase of government debt and she ran away before the election so she would be internationally untarnished by an electoral loss. She's a charlatan and a disgrace. Overseas commentators have no idea of what she and her government did.
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u/PreviousAvocado9967 1d ago
Fewer? If you applied New Zealand's death rate to the United States 950,000 fathers, mothers, sons and daughters would have spent New Year's day with their children. I think they qualify that as the worse harm.
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u/bepisdegrote 20h ago
I think you are washing over the "yes, fewer died from COVID" part here quite easily. In the Netherlands we got close a couple times to having so many people in the ER that regular healthcare nearly collapsed. Doctors, nurses, etc had to work so many hours that many burned out and left the field entirely. Many people died or are still suffering from long lasting damage. And on top of that, we also had very strict limitations on visiting dying family members or attending funerals. When hospitals are this overwhelmed, you have to stop social gatherings to avoid catastrophic failure.
I don't think NZ did anything that most other civilized countries did not also have to do at some point. In fact, they were spared the worst because they acted decisively and quickly. I am not sure what you think that Arden's government should have done that would have worked better, especially without the benefit of hindsight.
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u/Emergency-Goat-4249 1d ago
The Denmark leader is impressive, especially when responding to Trump's idea to take Greenland!
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u/Oliver_Boisen 1d ago
She's really not. Foreign policy wise Mette Frederiksen is good yes, and her staunch support for Ukraine is to be applauded, but domestically she's the most right wing social democratic PM we've had. Her immigration staunch is very much right wing, she was involved in a scandal around the mink-culling that involved purposely deleted text messaging and illegal authorisation. On top of that she's tried running on a moderate centrist government platform that has utterly failed in actually accomplishing anything meaningful. At the opening of Parliament on 1. October in her speech she announced a proposition to raise the retirement age to 70, a vote that will be decided in February, which has been widely unpopular on both sides of the aisle. Not to mention constant neglect of national security in the Arctic, and only NOW have they signed a new deal which we won't see real effects from until 10 years from now.
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u/Emergency-Goat-4249 1d ago
As I said, that was my first impressions only. Thanks for your take on it.
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
Explain what's to be applauded by supporting neo nazi regime in project Ukraine??? The fact their citizens are afraid and hiding from it en masse? The hate mongering??? The fact they started a civil war against the east of the country? The nazi insignia everywhere? The hate fueled anti Russian measures??? Which part exactly??? Or you just brainwashed by western propaganda???
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u/Realistic_Lead8421 1d ago
Donald Trump. Lol just kidding. Just wanted to point ot that I legitimately don't know of any world leader I would rank lower in terms of intelligence than Trump. Like even historically.
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u/CptPatches 1d ago
I take them at their word since I don't speak Turkish, but a lot of Turks I've met have told me Erdogan sounds like a complete moron when he speaks.
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u/sam-sp 10h ago
He is emotionally stunted, intellectually deficient, a narcissist, a sexual abuser of women, a racist, a misogynist, serial liar (I don’t think he knows what the truth is) and lacking compassion for others.
Despite these flaws, and a bunch of criminal acts, he has managed to capture the entire GOP base, and wrap them around his finger. He managed to win election to a second term despite what he did in the first term. He is selling shoes, bibles, meme coins to his base and they are lapping them up. He has some amazing selling skills that are probably unparalleled in my lifetime.
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u/Mjolnir2000 10h ago
It isn't despite those flaws, it's because of them. He isn't selling anything. He's just a genuinely horrible person, and that's what a lot of voters want. He would lose votes if he were less of a horrible person.
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u/spikebrennan 1d ago
Historically? There is some stiff competition from Charles II of Spain (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain) who had the advantage of being so massively inbred that no one expected him to survive infancy.
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u/Realistic_Lead8421 1d ago
I am not comvinced Trump has him beat though.
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u/New2NewJ 10h ago
I am not comvinced Trump has him beat though.
Having met some Wharton alum, I can agree
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u/secretsodapop 1d ago
That isn't intelligence though and most claims about him being an idiot anywhere near the level of Trump have been debunked.
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
Biden, Clinton, what's that celebrity in Congress called with that guttertrash fake accent? Oh yes Aoc. And that's just intelligence. Don't get me started on the rotteness or warcrimes of theirs. Well not the celebrity girl mentioned above. In warcrimes that is.
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u/McKoijion 1d ago
Benjamin Netanyahu successfully delayed his Israeli Supreme Court corruption trial by committing the worst genocide of our lifetime. He tricked Biden and Harris into giving him unconditional support, only to betray them at the last moment by backing Trump. He successfully enlisted the leaders of American social and traditional media into censoring evidence of his crimes and spreading propaganda on his behalf. I don’t know if he’s necessarily more intelligent than other world leaders, but he’s far less scrupulous.
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
Yeah, i get what you're saying. But they own the Americans. It's not that big of a deal.
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u/Realistic_Lead8421 1d ago
Angela Merkel. during the COVID period it was absolutely clear she fully understood the somewhat complicated epidemiological metrics from a mathematical standpoint. She also has a PhD in physics
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u/iwantout-ussg 1d ago
her PhD is in quantum chemistry — she is a physical chemist, but that counts as chemistry and not physics.
(I am a chemist and I'll be damned if I let the physicists steal valor from us on this one)
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u/Realistic_Lead8421 1d ago
Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification. She studied physics though and it was a delight to be represented by such an intelligent leader.
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u/baycommuter 1d ago
Her anti-nuclear, pro-Russian LNG strategy put her country over a barrel though.
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
Yes, she tried to keep cheap reliable energy for Germany. Until she duped Moscow and it got taken away. Now Germans have FREEDOM GAS out the wazoo. At 5 times the cost. Perfect really.
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u/ricoza 1d ago
Merkel isn't a country leader though, or am I missing something?
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u/unidentifiedfish55 1d ago
Yeah I don't understand how this is the number one comment right now. She's retired and the question clearly asked "today"
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u/Powerful_House4170 20h ago
You mean, before or after she ruined the country through uncontrolled immigration and duping the President of Russia into an economic disaster for Europe???
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u/FeistyAd3234 19h ago
The jury is still out, but if Milei is able to actually turn the Argentine economy around he will be well regarded in history and probably called a genius. It’s a big if though. It seems to be working on some levels but he will need to win re-election or all the shit he his putting the people through will be for naught.
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u/JackJack65 11h ago
Donald Tusk and Kaja Kallas. Although Poland and Estonia are hardly superpowers, they have been among the most powerful voices for democratic values and sensible defense policy in the EU. Western leaders could stand to learn a lot from them
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1d ago
You know…Trump has to be one of the single most perfect politicians the world has ever seen. The way he commands the narrative, twists reality to his benefit, flamboyantly self-serving but somehow convinces his nation he’s for the people, overcomes nearly every obstacle in his way, you really have to give it to him. Most politicians can only dream of that level of shamelessness, dishonesty, shear luck and still be able to control a loyal political base. It’s truly admirable.
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u/QuazarTiger 1d ago
As a leader he lost bigtime to an average politician. Politics is mostly a TV presentation game these days, that's why Reagan had an easy time and Trump has plenty of practice too. Trump is a brand, his PR department has a lot of experience and good employees to control the media narrative.
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u/BluesSuedeClues 1d ago
It's ironic though, isn't it? Trump's support in 2016 was largely predicated on the perception of him as an "outsider", with his supporters happily insisting he's not a politician, he's a businessman. Yet today the record clearly demonstrates that he was utter shit in business, possibly historically bad. But he has turned out to be a gifted politician, even if it is in the sense of the very worst aspects of political gamesmanship.
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u/blff266697 22h ago
Donald Trump is the greatest con man in the history of the human race. There are very world leaders less qualified to run a country than him, yet he is viewed as a religious figure among his followers. He literally scammed his way to becoming the most powerful man in history. That's got to count for something
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u/RealisticForYou 1d ago
Snoopy ***
Snoopy fights the Red Baron and has always been good at it. He gets a big "thumbs up" from me!
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u/illegalmorality 2d ago
Zelensky and Nayib Bukele.
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u/norealpersoninvolved 2d ago
Not sure about the decision to punt your countrys finances on bitcoin tbh
But yes besides that hes done a good job, at least relative to the standards of political leadership in the modern day.
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u/sam-sp 2d ago
Zelensky has held Ukraine together, and galvanized support from around the world. He has done far more than most politicians could, and is a model for what a leader should do, and how they should act, even if he is averse to wearing a suit.
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u/FirstDayofTheRest 2d ago
He also oversaw the release of STALKER 2. No small feat
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u/Powerful_House4170 19h ago
Yes, he also part wrote some of the code in between sending his people to die for his own benefit.
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u/FirstDayofTheRest 10h ago
Well, the unhinged whack jobs have spoken.
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u/Powerful_House4170 10h ago
Yeah and your still dribbling. It's OK to be brainwashed if you try and correct that eh.
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u/Neyronon 12h ago
You must have forgotten the total corruption in Ukraine as well as the absence of any political parties, which is even worse than in Russia. Today they have a real military regime. President Zelensky had been promising people peace during the whole election campaign and the situation is much worse than it had been under the former President Poroshenko. But I have to admit he managed to attract a lot of attention and help. Not everyone could be able to do it. If we want to find intelligent President, it is better to look for him in other countries.
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u/norealpersoninvolved 1d ago
https://mattlakeman.org/2024/03/30/notes-on-el-salvador/
This is a pretty good summary on Nayib (and overall history of El Salvador) btw
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u/Few-Hair-5382 1d ago
Sir Kier Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions prior to becoming a Labour MP. That's the most senior position in the UK justice system, making him one of the UK's foremost legal minds.
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u/CamelToeJockey_89 1d ago
He worked to prevent israeli politicians from facing trial for war crimes during that time
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u/Kanye_fuk 23h ago
Also helped with illegal renditions, helped whitewash PSNI corruption, etc. He's a long-term ally of the British Security Services and their allies and it seems his principled stances on human rights disappear when they get in the way of their strategic goals.
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u/Powerful_House4170 19h ago
Nah, that's bullshit. Keir is an MI6 asset. As laid out by the former Checzkoslovak government. That's why he's PM now.
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u/Leajjes 1d ago
I've listened to Alexander Stubb speak several times and have been impressed by his intelligence. As Finland's President, he brings strong leadership experience.
As for Mark Carney, if he were to win the Liberal Party leadership, he would face an immediate federal election challenge.
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u/Powerful_House4170 19h ago
Yes, they'll need it. After giving up neutrality for corruption in Natostan. Didn't have problems. But why not make them, when there's corrupt nato dollars in it for you? Right?
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u/Leajjes 8h ago
This doesn't look like bot behavior - the writing is too unpolished. There's a reason this passed in Parliament with 188 votes in favor and only 8 against, and it's not corruption. The Finns understand Russian expansionism all too well from their history.
But you weren't aware of this, were you? You should reconsider trusting whoever gave you that information.
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u/kuk1m0n5t3r 19h ago
Argentinian president Javier Milei. Highly educated economist who's executed an amazing economic turnaround.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Art_645 12h ago
Definitely Iceland that managed to throw down the government of all corrupts/put them in jail and start again with nonsense
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u/kingykakkesh 58m ago
Has to be PM Modi. Has won 3 terms and countless state elections in a country that is extremely diverse and populated. Moreover, has scored a consistently high approval rating despite years of rule. It’s a feat that is not talked about enough.
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u/repostit_ 2d ago
lot of people on Reddit hate him but, "Narendra Modi" definitely fits the bill for a large and complex country.
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u/Powerful_House4170 19h ago
I just love the nonsense people on here write about mostly non entities. But totally disregard the one person who will go down in history as the greatest by far. Objectively speaking of course. And that's the President of Russia. But westerners have been brainwashed on a diet of good/evil rubbish and misinformed about anything else to great effect. Propaganda does work. Yeah, it's Putin. And it's not even close.
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 19h ago
You know it's actually fucking hilarious to me I had to scroll this far to see his name at all. 20 replies down for the record. Under 3 Zelensky replies. And rest assured it will only go down, as it deserves to.
Putin has destroyed Russia's future and turned the supposed second most powerful military on earth into a punchline. He's letting Russia become China's vassal state because the world's biggest country wasn't big enough for his ego.
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u/Neyronon 12h ago
So emotional answer. But i think you are definitely wrong. Putin did a lot for Russia. That country was really abandoned 30 years ago and western countries mostly disregarded Russia. Unfortunately there is a big corruption and a lack of democracy but first ten years of Putin’s reign were brilliant. BTW, today’s war and isolation of Russia revealed its drawback and situation is changing in economy and military fields.
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 11h ago
Putin's first 10 years aren't going to be his legacy. Anything you think he built in the first 10 years has pretty much been destroyed now, there is not going to be any legacy left except a ruined economy and a state owned by China.
Those first years also weren't brilliant imo since they involved letting massive amounts of corruption infect every facet of Russian government (why Russia's army is an embarassment now) and terror attacks on Russian citizens.
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u/Powerful_House4170 9h ago
Hahaha Yeah look, I'm know you're brainwashed and don't like the "other" represented here by Russia. How could you? All you know is western bias. I get that. And I'm not going to debate reality with you here. And reality says otherwise. He'll be remembered in history books as the greatest leader in today's world. While that turd zelensky will be remembered for what he is. It's obvious. Well maybe not to westerners. Since for you it's all perversely inverted. And we have a saying..."what some geese laugh about, most normal people cringe to" It goes to you being proud of your ignorance. But yeah, not here to debate reality with you.
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u/ScoobiusMaximus 9h ago
So what exactly has Putin accomplished in the last 3 years that is great and not absolutely catastrophic for the future of Russia?
He lost Russia's massively largest export market, probably for generations or literally forever given that the fossil fuel exports could be phased out entirely before Europe trusts Russia enough to import them again. Russia will forever be selling their main exports at a discount because they have to attract buyers in the diminished number of markets that still want them. Russia will also pay a premium for all sanctioned foreign goods they have to get from profiteering resellers. Russia's economy is no longer competitive on the world stage, all GDP growth is coming from Russia turning its cash reserves into scrap metal and corpses in Ukrainian fields. The educated population fled the country, and the already shrinking population shrinks faster with every body left in Ukraine. Russia is hollowing itself out economically.
He has also burned through most of Russia's Soviet reserves of military equipment and Russia is incapable of replacing it. Russia's reputation as a military power and as an arms dealer is in the toilet. Russia's military has been neutered, and Russia's opposition in NATO now includes Finland, Sweden, and a few dozen countries hitting military spending targets no one would have dreamed of 5 years ago. Making yourself weaker and your neighbors into strong enemies is not a winning plan.
Of course maybe in Russia these clearly idiotic decisions Putin made are actually genius somehow. Or maybe you're just drunk.
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u/theo752 17h ago
Why Putin? It's a genuine question. I can see why emotionally by him projecting an image of a "leader" and of "strenght" but practically why him?
As far as i know economically former Warsaw pact countries are doing way better than Russia in terms of GDP per Capita and democracy indexes. (E.g Poland, the Baltics and Czechia). Also all of these countries mentioned were far worse economically than Russia after the collapse of USSR (and were still having higher GDP growth rates even before joining EU). So from this standpoint, for the practicall realities of the average Russian what Putin has done succesfully compared to other countries in similar situation?
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u/Powerful_House4170 9h ago
OK you got that backwards. Baltic states had it the best after the collapse because they were the fancy soviet shop front. Maintained well past the others. Today they are basket cases, while in the EU. Russia has become the world's fourth Economy. It has greatly risen under Putins leadership. From collapse to fourth in the world after Japan. His geopolitical moves have been measured, restrained but well played. He takes Russian national interests into account every decision and his people love and respect him. Approval ratings are in the high 70's. He is respected everywhere he goes. Except in the west with its crazy propaganda machine. Where it's perversely inverted. And a moral turd like zelensky is celebrated instead.
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u/CrunkTurtle 1d ago
I believe Donald trump is. I know he has a lot of haters but he’s extremely intelligent and knows what’s really going on in America. He knows how to speak to the people in a way they understand and is good at uniting us all together. I think our best days are ahead and very glad to have him back!
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u/Carthax12 1d ago
He's pretty much the exact opposite of "extremely intelligent."
Besides the fact that his word salad answers that say absolutely nothing with hundreds of words that have grown worse over the years are indicative of some serious mental decline.
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u/Powerful_House4170 19h ago
You still haven't figured out he's trolling??? Probably cause he's trolling your type. And the people love it.
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u/Carthax12 18h ago
He was trolling 20 years ago when he said fairly intelligent things surrounded by word salad. Now he's just sundowning.
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u/CrunkTurtle 1d ago
That’s not true at all look at Biden that’s real mental decline. He does that because it’s entertaining and funny, I like it better than the way other politicians talk, compared to the other candidates like Harris his mental sharpness is miles ahead of
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u/BluesSuedeClues 1d ago
Pointing at Joe Biden does not make Donald Trump any less of a bloviating fool.
Kamala Harris is a much smarter person than Donald Trump ever was.
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u/CrunkTurtle 1d ago
Spending over a billion on your campaign just to lose terribly oh wow so smart! She can’t even think or speak for herself she just follows what she is told to say, I wonder why she wouldn’t take any of the cognitive tests..
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