Trump, Putin und die Rückkehr der Theorie des „großen Mannes“.

Submission statement: Thomas Carlyle famously declared that history is “the biography of great men,” a view long-since dismissed as we came to recognize the power of systemic economic and social conditions. But we underestimate the force of individual personalities at our peril, argues International Relations professor Rose McDermott. From Trump in Greenland to Putin in Ukraine, the psychologies and belief-systems of just a few individuals are driving geopolitics. To avoid catastrophic miscalculations, McDermott warns that we must stop relying on systemic models of change, and instead try to get into the heads of the leaders reshaping our world.