Ankara, Berlin misery; electing “strong men” threatens to compounded it

By Alec Hogg

The trouble with applying force is the response tends to be Newtonian. Action is followed by an equal and opposite reaction.

The Russians carpet bomb Aleppo for their distasteful Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad; so an activist kills Putin's ambassador in Ankara. Western forces raise the pressure on Islamic terrorists; so a hijacked truck ploughs into a crowd in a Berlin market, killing 12 people and injuring 48.

There are serious downsides to the current wave where democracies are voting "strong men" to the highest office. In a complex, networked world, risks escalate when nations are led by those who don't care to know what they don't know. The result is much better when leadership is unemotional, rational and balanced.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lest we forget.