title: The aging leader: Approaching age as a factor in international relations
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Shiraev, Eric
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2023-01-31T19:27:57Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2023-01-31T19:27:57Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2021-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Shiraev E. The aging leader: Approaching age as a factor in international relations. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. International Relations, 2021, vol. 14, issue 4, pp. 446–455. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu06.2021.405
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu06.2021.405
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/38941
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: This article goes against the grain of traditional approaches in international relations by claiming
  that a leader’s biological age is a factor in this individual’s execution of foreign policy. The
  traditional logic of political science that has generally been diminishing the impact of a leader’s
  individual features on policy for the sake of institutional procedures needs to be reassessed. A
  common assumption is that an aging king or president, especially those entering the eighth or
  ninth decade of their lives, are likely to make prudent, balanced, and wise political decisions due
  to their rich experience. However, this notion lacks sufficient empirical support from history. The
  physical “wear and tear” of the aging leader, along with their declining psychological functions,
  are likely to negatively impact their foreign-policy decisions that may fall under the influence of
  the leader’s information overload, cognitive narcissism, profound stubbornness, as well as their
  irrational sense of urgency, and their tendency to overcompensate. In democracies, the political
  tenure of top politicians is limited by constitutional terms or scheduled elections. In authoritarian
  systems, only the top figure’s death or incapacitation become actual “schedulers” of their political
  tenure. Although a person’s advanced age should not disqualify him or her from public office,
  without institutional checks on the leader’s judgements and behavior as well as the critical power
  of public opinion and the press, the aging authoritarian leader can become unpredictably risky.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. International Relations;Volume 14; Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: aging leader
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: authoritarian leader
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: information overload
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: political hoarding
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: cognitive narcissism
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: The aging leader: Approaching age as a factor in international relations
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 05.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/38941/1/05.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 605,92 kB