In nations that once stood out as paragons of tolerance, ideologues now sow divisions. In others, the space progressives had won inch by inch over decades appears to have slipped out of their hands once more. The easy re-election of one of them, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, suggests that kindness, empathy and responsible governance will trump adversarial politics, should her contemporaries take a page from her playbook. In the face of Covid-19, when most world leaders wavered in response, she and her government acted decisively. These, coupled with her attentiveness and empathy with the sentiments of her nation, have come to define a leadership style observers have dubbed the ‘politics of kindness’.

Source: The Express Tribune November 10, 2020 03:33 UTC