El Pais: Big problems and small leaders ... Corona reveals the weakness of many world leaders

International affairs expert Moses Naim believes that the Corona crisis surprised the world in a state of great institutional weakness, and expected that it will have unexpected consequences, perhaps including a strong reaction against what he called "young rulers", and the emergence of leaders who are able to face the major problems that he knows the world.

"What will the effect of the Corona virus be in poor countries where overcrowding prevails and staying at home without work is impossible," asked Naim in an article in the Spanish newspaper "El Pais". What if "Covid-19" disease spread through different waves? Will the rulers of the world succeed in managing this crisis?

The writer cited the veteran American diplomat, Henry Kissinger, who believes that the world will not be the same after the Corona virus, and that "the historic challenge for today's leaders is managing the crisis and they are building the future, because their failure in this mission can burn the world."

Naeem believes that the level of the current leaders in the world - with a few exceptions - is pathetic and worrisome, and he said that criticizing political leaders is normal, but he called at the same time to be careful in this to avoid falling into exaggerations.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, was also quoted as saying that the relationship between the superpowers has never been dysfunctional as it is now, and that the Corona crisis put everyone before this challenge "Either we unite and work together, or the epidemic defeats us."

Moses Naim's article included a reference to English columnist Martin Wolf, who believes that "this is the biggest crisis facing the world since the Second World War, and it is also the most serious economic disaster since the economic depression in the thirties .. The world has reached this moment in light of deep divisions between the great powers And a terrible weakness in the performance of governments.

In evaluating some models of global leadership, Naim criticized US President Donald Trump's method of selecting senior officials and employees, and the model of the National Economic Council, which he supervised since its establishment in 1993, was given by prominent economists, but his administration during President Trump's term led to a TV financial commentator.

In Europe, the writer said that power-holders are not very inspiring and do not inspire confidence, and he questioned the efficacy of policies pursued by some politicians such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Hungarian Victor Urban and Spanish Pedro Sanchez.

Naeem concluded his article by referring to some examples of leaders such as the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who denied the existence of the epidemic, the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to kill those who do not respect quarantine, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who uses the Corona Virus as an excuse to deepen discrimination against Muslims in his country.