Time Magazine includes Duterte in ‘strongmen’ cover

The latest issue of the renowned magazine’s international edition included President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in its cover as one of the leaders heading the ‘rise of the strongmen.’

Time Magazine’s cover story entitled “The ‘Strongmen Era’ Is Here. Here’s What It Means for You” by Ian Bremmer discussed the similarities of the different country leaders but only chose four to grace the issue’s cover, namely: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Philippine President.

Bremmer, a political scientist listed different leaders in the magazine’s May 14, 2018 issue, stressing that the trend of “men who never let law undermine order” is not only confined in the United States (US) through its President Donald Trump.

“In every region of the world, changing times have boosted public demand for more muscular, assertive leadership. These tough-talking populists promise to protect ‘us’ from ‘them.’ Depending on who’s talking, ‘them’ can mean the corrupt elite or the grasping poor; foreigners or members of racial, ethnic or religious minorities,” the article read.

“Or disloyal politicians, bureaucrats, bankers or judges. Or lying reporters. Out of this divide, a new archetype of leader has emerged. We’re now in the strongman era,” it added.

The Philippine President’s campaign to eradicate illegal drugs was the main topic associated to his name.

Bremmer described Duterte as “a former mayor who talked more like a Mob boss than a President on his promises to wipe out the drug trade with his own brand of justice.”

Apart from the mentioned, other leaders branded as a “strongman” were Chinese President Xi Jinping, former Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, former Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei.

Bremmer continued on by describing these leaders as “usually the ones exerting” the populist “pressure, and their systems allow them to protect their advantages by changing the rules of the political game as needed. And nothing has made it easier for them to do so than advances in technology.”

“What is Trumps place in all this? The US President has expressed sincere admiration for the likes of Putin, Xi, al-Sisi, and Duterte,” the article further wrote, saying that while the US President “complains and attacks,” he cannot avoid the rulings of the country’s political system.

“That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about. The impact this President has had on U.S. politics–including the very fact that he was able to get elected–has exposed holes in the systemic makeup of what was once the West’s beacon of democracy,” it added.

Bremmer then noted that the “most worrying element” of the strongmen era is “the message that it sends.”