Turkey's Erdogan Shows Why Strongmen Are Weak

Turkey’s Weak Strongman Western pundits often admire autocrats for getting things done. Turkey shows why they’re wrong. The old idea that autocracies are better than raucous democracies at getting things done found new life during the coronavirus pandemic. Many Western commentators argued that while democracies dithered and debated, autocracies were quick to respond and mobilize their resources. Sometimes that might be true—but only if you are the right kind of autocracy. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey, it turned out, is not one of them. More:Turkey's Erdogan Shows Why Strongmen Are Weak