Political Leaders on International Scene free essay sample

Even in ancient times, philosophers were delivering speeches and writing works where they comprised their ideas about improvement of politics and everyday life of citizens. One of them was greek philosopher –Aristotle who wrote â€Å"Politics†. In his work, not only he gathered all of the remarkable insights about greek’s political system, but also implied that : â€Å"(†¦)leadership is not just learning a body of theoretical knowledge – episteme – and not merely captured by replicable skills – techne – but rather something including practical wisdom – phronesis. † (Grint2007:4). There is no doubt that leadership is not easy and that a good leader should be characterized with various virtues. His or her actions should be visible all around the world, on international scale. However, there are politicians such as Tony Blair, Barack Obama or Vladimir Putin whose international presence can be clearly seen and cannot be omitted. First of all, one of the most recognizable political figures, not only in Britain is definitely former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom -Tony Blair. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Leaders on International Scene or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although his term of office ended in 2007, he made a lot of significant decisions and influenced a political life of many people. In 1997, Tony Blair won the biggest Labour victory in history to sweep the party to power and end 18 years of Conservative government. He has been one of the most dynamic leaders of modern times; few British prime ministers have shaped the nations course as profoundly as Tony Blair did, during his ten years in power. His achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. †(Blair2010:1). Moreover, Tony Blair had a strong political alliance with George W. Bush – a former president of the United States of America. After the memorable attacks on 11th September, Bush in his speech stated that America has no truer friend than Great Britain† and Tony Blair played a major part in creating this bond. Tony Blair had also a good relation with several conservative European leaders including Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France. What is more, he constantly emphasized the role of environment in everyone’s life. His international politics focused on the need of changing the climate. He had taken part in lots of conferences and along with his party, he promised a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide. Tony Blair’s leadership in Great Britain is one of the most charismatic and influencial ones. Once he said that â€Å"The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. † and this should be a motto for every politician across the globe. Second of all, nowadays an important political figure is definitely Barack Obama. He is the first African American President of the United States of America, whose leadership started in 2009 and lasts until now. There is a minimum chance that in this world lives a person who haven’t heard about Barack Obama. When it comes to his international achievements, he controlled wars with Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize. Furthermore, there is even a term that describes a foreign policy of Barack Obama – the Obama Doctrine. Spencer Ackerman in his article decribed it as †(†¦) a doctrine that first ends the politics of fear and then moves beyond a hollow, sloganeering democracy promotion agenda in favor of dignity promotion, to fix the conditions of misery that breed anti-Americanism and prevent liberty, justice, and prosperity from taking root. †(Ackerman,2008). Obama also made a report outlining National Security Strategy of the USA. In this report, he urged other countries to engage in war with Iraq and emphasized that it is not based on religious aspects. Obama is clearly present in the international scene of politics and he has a strong voice in every global leader’s meeting. Finally, mentioning the United States of America and Barack Obama, it would be inappropriate not to mention the second, most influencial president on the globe – Vladimir Putin, of Russia. His leadership lasts from 2000 until now and it is full of controversy. His political relations with Poland and Ukraine , because of the Orange Revolution, are full of discontent. Even though, he made political friendships with France and Germany. Putin was also an author of the Eurasian Union proposal which consists of political and economical union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. He claimed that: The establishment of a customs union and common economic space lays the foundation for a future Eurasian economic union, We set ourselves an ambitious task: to reach a higher integration level. (Novosti2011  Although many citizens believe that Vladimir Putin controls Russia far much more than he is expected, he is also deeply involved in international politics. In conclusion, many politicians nowadays want to become known as international political figures but it is a task that not everybody can accomplish. It takes years of experience, multitude of charisma, assertiveness and stubbornness. Tony Blair, Barack Obama and Vladimir Put in are clear examples that the relations with foreign countries are of a paramount importance. They are conscious that their decisions are influencial and they have to take care of their country. As famous American coach, Vince Lombardi, said : â€Å"Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. † BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Grint, Keith, 2007 : â€Å" Learning to Lead: Can Aristotle Help Us Find the Road to Wisdom? 2. Blair, Tony,2010 :† A journey: My political life†. 3. Ackerman,Spencer,2008 : â€Å" The Obama Doctrine† 4. Ria Novosti,2011: â€Å"Putin calls for Eurasian Union†