ABSTRACT
Leadership is tending to become the art of courting not only the media but—much more important—the audience. This creates a new kind of demagoguery that can very well mean the end of leadership. Strategic leadership would be doomed to go under because of the day-to-day processes of muddling through and because of strategic melodies pitched to the public's changing moods. In fact, there are three main Russian anxieties: Germany, the United States of America, and China. There is a danger that political leaders will abandon the tightrope-walking art of conducting political leadership, both internationally and domestically, and replace it by playing to the television-watcher's ears and eyes. In addition, the leader will be tempted to replace or supplant political leadership with sheer military-like command—taking decisions unilaterally, asking his allies "to please follow suit and please do so within a couple of days".
