The return of the hero-leader? Volodymyr Zelensky’s international image and the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

This article focuses on the notion of heroic leadership as it has been applied as an analytical framework to Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It presents an overview of Zelensky’s leadership strategies and their domestic and international reception and puts them in the wider context of the ways in which power is exercised in the global arena. It is argued that the authority and influence of Zelensky – the hero-leader – is the result of a reciprocal relationship between leader and followers, constructed out of the fear and desperation of warfare. One of the fundamental analytical tools in International Relations studies – the notion of soft and hard power – has been applied to Zelensky’s way of affecting the behaviors of others in order to shape their preferences and obtain his desired options. The perception of him as heroic has become the main instrument of the country’s power of attraction, which in turn enabled the president to expand his leadership. In this context the article reveals the mechanisms employed to build international recognition for Ukraine and build support for its resistance to the Russian invasion.

Letter to Putin

“…Moreover, look again at the contorted logic of his proclamation about where his units were going next: ‘we will turn our columns and go in the opposite direction to our field camps.’ If he’s turning his army around then its heading towards his field camp not in the opposite direction! No wonder your war in Ukraine is going so badly: it’s not just that the Ukrainians are more motivated and Zelensky is a better leader than you are, it’s because the Ukrainians know which way they are heading (Spector, 2023; Zachara-Szymańska, 2023). It’s lucky for you that Ukraine doesn’t have the rapid response units capable of taking advantage of this calamity otherwise it wouldn’t have been Russians at the gates of Moscow, it would have been Ukrainians.…”