It is not uncommon to see the influence of forceful leaders on the policies of the country they represent. But it is extraordinary when one sees the impact of the personalities of certain leaders on the politics and economics of the region their country is situated within or even much beyond. Professor Vyjayanti Raghavan in her meticulous study has brought out the role the two leaders, President Xi Jinping of China and former President Donald Trump, have played in changing the way many countries of the Asia-Pacific (or now the Indo-Pacific) have conducted their foreign policy in recent years. The Asia-Pacific which includes the Northeast, Southeast and South Asia has lately become a region of conflict with considerable churning. As the author observes, the conflict between these two strong leaders threatened to break into a Cold War situation; however, with the end of Trump’s tenure it fortunately did not come to a head.

Leadership Legacy: The Role of Two World Leaders
Sudhir T. Devare
NORTHEAST ASIA AND SOUTH ASIA: THE IMPACT OF XI JINPING AND DONALD TRUMP by By Vyjayanti Raghavan KW Publishers, New Delhi, 2024, 267 pp., INR 1220.00
October 2024, volume 48, No 10