Evan Lieberman, director of the Center for International Studies and the Total Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa, writes about the similarities between President Donald Trump to Paul Kruger, the second president of the South African Republic, highlighting the lessons that should be learned from the historical comparison.
Evan Lieberman
I am a longtime student of South African politics and history, and have visited on a regular basis since 1991. In 2019, I began research for a book about the country’s first 25 years under post-apartheid democracy, with a focus on Kruger’s namesake town – Krugersdorp – and the modern municipality in which it sits, Mogale City.
I came to learn about Kruger and his important role in South African history, and some of those findings are particularly relevant at this moment in American history, and in the context of strained South African-American relations.
Strong similarities between the two men remind us that while populists may claim to espouse radically new world views, usually they are just playing the same old song. Kruger’s story also provides fair warning of what might be in store for my country should we continue on this path, with potentially disastrous consequences.
