Global Leadership Is on the Cusp of a Youth Movement

Global Leadership Is on the Cusp of a Youth Movement
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chilean President Gabriel Boric pose for photos during a bilateral meeting in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 2, 2023 (AP photo by Eraldo Peres).

Since 1970, life expectancy in almost all the world’s rich, industrialized nations has increased by 10 years. In many developing countries it is also growing fast. It should therefore be no surprise that world leaders, too, are older than they used to be. 

Today, the leadership of many of the world’s most powerful countries is concentrated in the hands of septuagenarians, or older. Russian President Vladimir Putin is 70 years old, while Chinese President Xi Jinping will turn 70 in June, and U.S. President Joe Biden recently celebrated his 80th birthday.

Elsewhere, beyond the great power triangle, the leader of the most-populous democracy in the world, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is 72; the leader of Latin America’s largest and most-populous country, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is 77; and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, the most-populous country in Africa, is 80.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.