The tree doesn’t fall far from the fruit. That’s what, more or less, came to my mind as soon as the map of Florida bled in bright red on the giant Fox News screen in the middle of Times Square in New York. Only hours earlier, I playfully told friends that we should celebrate Hillary Clinton’s impending victory in the US presidential election in nearby Trump Tower along Fifth Avenue.
Perhaps I will be equally surprised after next week's presidential election. But that night in 2016, with dazed eyes and horrified faces latched onto a mostly red map of America – depicting the Republican Party's unexpected victory – a tinge of deja vu washed over me. I swiftly realised that the same populist wave that took over my country just months earlier had now conquered the world’s greatest democracy. All of a sudden, America's politics seemed to be mimicking that of its former colony, the Philippines.
Donald Trump’s victory was greeted with widespread optimism in the Philippines and elsewhere – a rich contrast to many poor New Yorkers who broke into tears on that fateful election night. Millions of Filipinos saw in the new US President a powerful vindication of their own controversial choice at home, which unsurprisingly invited an avalanche of sneer and derision among the chattering classes.
Countless Filipino-Americans, including a few relatives, were ecstatic, having proudly voted for the former reality show star and self-proclaimed billionaire. Unsurprisingly, as America’s credibility cratered throughout the world, Mr Trump still managed to remain immensely popular in the Philippines as well as India and Vietnam. But what exactly explains this phenomenon?
Why are so many denizens of these faraway post-colonial nations so enamoured with the most divisive and unpopular American President in recent memory? The answer lies at intersections of history, democracy fatigue and geopolitics.
Bromance of the Century
Throughout 2016, a year that changed history, global media branded the Philippines’ populist President Rodrigo Duterte the “Trump of the East”. But for me, especially as a Filipino, it was Mr Trump who was, at least chronologically speaking, the “Duterte of the West”.
For the next four years, the two mavericks would unleash a torrent of disinformation and chaos at home, upending once vibrant democracies with unfathomable determination. They also shook up the global geopolitical landscape with thunderous rhetoric and notoriously disruptive policies.
Mr Duterte quickly became the Philippines’ first openly pro-China leader, even (falsely) claiming to be of Chinese descent, while swearing at the outgoing American president Barack Obama and threatening to end the two nations' century-old alliance.
Equally dramatic, albeit on a far larger scale, Mr Trump deployed his own fire and fury by lashing out at allies, threatening neighbours and becoming America’s most openly anti-China President in recent history. Almost single-handedly, the populist in the White House triggered a "new Cold War" by targeting not only Chinese exports, but even sanctioning the latter’s national champions and most high-profile global companies.
While Mr Trump pressed his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” – an astute rebranding of a long-established “America First” tradition – Mr Duterte promised to make the Philippines truly “independent” by exploring alternative partners in the East.
And yet, as I predicted just days after Mr Trump’s election, the two populists, one a self-proclaimed “socialist” and the other a New Cold Warrior, would build an unusual rapport. On a personal level, this made perfect sense.
Psychoanalytically speaking, here were two "macho" leaders and alpha males, who mirrored each other in a narcissistic embrace. Ideologically, both men successfully ran on an anti-establishment and proudly illiberal agenda against what they saw as a snobbish and deracinated "globalist" elite.
Touting law and order, Mr Trump would oversee draconian anti-immigration policies, while Mr Duterte would obsess over his scorched-earth drug war. In a personalised cult of action, they found a shared catharsis for national salvation.
Together, they formed the core of a right-wing "populist internationale" stretching from Budapest to Brasilia.
Interestingly, their bromance is shared by their core supporters. From Guam to mainland America, numerous Republicans, as soon as they realised my nationality, openly shared their admiration for Mr Duterte as a “strong leader”, especially his tough rhetoric on crime.
The Opium of Populism
In the Philippines, where there are no real ideological divides or genuine political parties, praise for Mr Trump is far more democratic, including from those who despise Mr Duterte. There are three key reasons for this seemingly strange phenomenon.
First, what we are witnessing across the world is what I have described as a “strongman syndrome”, namely the enduring yet naive belief that a single-minded and decisive leader can solve complex 21st-century challenges with sheer political will.
A century earlier, German sociologist Max Weber foresaw such “charismatic” leaders, who, in the eyes of their devout supporters, “[are] endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities".
In a world of rapid change and deep uncertainty, existential anxiety is driving millions of people into the embrace of strongmen and father figures, who promise stability and safety in times of rapid transformation.
Collective faith in democratic institutions and economic globalisation has virtually collapsed across the world. The upshot is a Freudian "regression", namely the infantilisation of masses in the shadow of charismatic leadership.
According to a 2017 Pew survey, a majority of respondents in places such as the Philippines, India and Indonesia are open to an authoritarian leader, who can provide swift and decisive solutions. In the Philippines, Asia’s oldest democracy, only 15 per cent categorically supported representative democracy.
The number was even lower in Indonesia (12 per cent) and India (8 per cent), both under populist leaders, as well as in Vietnam (8 per cent), where the communist regime remains popular. As in his populist counterparts from Mr Duterte of the Philippines to Narendra Modi of India, Mr Trump is a masterful self-promoter who enjoys wide global appeal among those who yearn for the clarity of one-man rule.
The second factor is the enduring social conservatism in places such as the Philippines, extending even to the Filipino-American diaspora. After three centuries of Spanish "friarocracy" and a century of American domination, many Filipinos tend to be socially conservative and economically libertarian, namely sceptical of both big government and progressive reforms.
No wonder then, Mr Trump’s right-wing republicanism remains deeply appealing to many Filipinos both in the US and across the Pacific Ocean. In fact, it’s in the Philippines, where the American populist enjoys the highest approval ratings in the world (69 per cent), while Filipinos are his biggest supporters among Asian-Americans.
The final key factor is China. In the past decade, Beijing has expanded its military footprint across its borders, from the Himalayas to the South China Sea, fuelling growing anti-China sentiments from New Delhi to Hanoi and Manila.
Mr Trump’s tough talk, trade war and growing military deployments across China’s adjacent waters seem to resonate with a vast majority of people in frontline states such as the Philippines, Vietnam and India. What I found most fascinating are the pro-Trump sentiments even among liberal friends and social media followers, who are fans of neither Mr Duterte nor Mr Modi but see China as an existential threat to global freedom.
In Mr Trump, even Asian liberals seem to have found their "knight in shining armour" against the new communist colossus. And thus, while increasingly unpopular at home, Mr Trump remains a premier brand among Asia’s oldest democracies, the Philippines and India, and China’s communist brethren, Vietnam.
Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic, having taught political science at Ateneo De Manila University and De La Salle University, Philippines
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
AT%20A%20GLANCE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWindfall%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAn%20%E2%80%9Cenergy%20profits%20levy%E2%80%9D%20to%20raise%20about%20%C2%A35%20billion%20in%20a%20year.%20The%20temporary%20one-off%20tax%20will%20hit%20oil%20and%20gas%20firms%20by%2025%20per%20cent%20on%20extraordinary%20profits.%20An%2080%20per%20cent%20investment%20allowance%20should%20calm%20Conservative%20nerves%20that%20the%20move%20will%20dent%20North%20Sea%20firms%E2%80%99%20investment%20to%20save%20them%2091p%20for%20every%20%C2%A31%20they%20spend.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EA%20universal%20grant%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEnergy%20bills%20discount%2C%20which%20was%20effectively%20a%20%C2%A3200%20loan%2C%20has%20doubled%20to%20a%20%C2%A3400%20discount%20on%20bills%20for%20all%20households%20from%20October%20that%20will%20not%20need%20to%20be%20paid%20back.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETargeted%20measures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMore%20than%20eight%20million%20of%20the%20lowest%20income%20households%20will%20receive%20a%20%C2%A3650%20one-off%20payment.%20It%20will%20apply%20to%20households%20on%20Universal%20Credit%2C%20Tax%20Credits%2C%20Pension%20Credit%20and%20legacy%20benefits.%3Cbr%3ESeparate%20one-off%20payments%20of%20%C2%A3300%20will%20go%20to%20pensioners%20and%20%C2%A3150%20for%20those%20receiving%20disability%20benefits.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
The five pillars of Islam
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
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Rating: 3.5/5
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
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THREE
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