Russia's debacle in Ukraine underscored the fact that democracy's guarantee that leaders are regularly replaced is actually the system's most important advantage. It turns out that our power to throw the bums out could end up saving not just the West, but the world.
That could be hyperbole but the point that an autocrat like Putin in power for so long - doesn't have anyone around him that could tell him "No" - is not beneficial. The plans to invade Ukraine were handled by only a handful of trusted military planners to help keep it secret. How do you become a "trusted" military planner? You support the boss at all turns. Likewise the military and intelligence services are led by people who got their positions not through competence but through loyalty. And we are seeing the fruits of that in the quagmire Ukraine has become for Russia.
The essay also points out that China's President Xi Jinping is following a similar trajectory as Putin. Though Xi has been in office only half as long as Putin he has consistently concentrated his own power (just like Putin) but at the cost of all the things that were making China's economy a powerhouse. Business leaders in the West would be wise to decouple from China now because the longer Xi remains in power the more disengaged from reality he'll become. Just like Putin.
Please note that I disagree 100% with the author's assessment of Biden and Trump but that does not invalidate his many good points made in the essay.
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