Off the Soapbox is a Zeitgeist column that focuses on the personalities, leadership styles, and rhetoric of those in the political arena today. How do these leaders, their unique backgrounds and approaches, impact the larger political conversation?

Vladimir Putin: Not a Mad Man

Putin has been labelled a mad man many times. Inews recently called him “an unpredictable man with a noticeable willingness to do anything crazy.” MSNBC’s host, Amyn Mohyledin, claimed that…

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Who’s Afraid of Populism?

By all accounts, not Latin Americans. Across the region, populist parties have become a common fixture on electoral ballots. Its representatives have become increasingly central (although not always popular) figures…

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Kyrsten Sinema: An Unusual Obstacle

In March of 2003, as Senator Joe Lieberman — the controversial, independent-minded, pro-Iraq war, moderate Democrat from Connecticut — toured Tucson, Arizona, during his recently-announced presidential campaign, he encountered anti-war…

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