The latest congregation of the most powerful nations of the world, which has been dubbed the G20, has rounded up in the German city of Hamburg with Heads of States and governments failing to convince America’s President Donald Trump to come back to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. However, attention was also focused on another powerful leader of the world, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who had a historic closed-door meeting with Donald Trump that lasted for two hours.

As these world leaders from the 20 most powerful nations, including leaders of invited countries and organizations like South Africa, the African Union, and the European Union were being hosted by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, thousands of protesters also assembled outside of the meeting venue. The protestors came together to vent their frustrations about President Trump and President Putin, whom they accused of being behind recent conflicts in the world, as well as using their powerful positions to impose themselves on the political and economic stage of the world to the detriment of vulnerable economies and polities. According to the BBC, the meeting of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is historic because both men are the most powerful in the world, their countries have nuclear weapons that can bring the entire world to its knees, and most major conflicts in the world depend on their intra-psychic dynamism.

In recent times, Putin has grown to be one of the most powerful persons in the world. His ascendance over the world stage came about thanks to the influential role that Russia has been playing in the Syrian conflict for the past two years, which has greatly turned the tides in favour of Putin, making him very popular even at home. The conflict in Syria has become one of the most devastating conflicts of recent times with about 5 million refugees and 6.2 million internally displaced persons, as well as more than 300,000 deaths. It has also influenced the political economy of the East, and with Putin being the most influential person in the conflict, he has unofficially become the “Commander-in-chief of the East.”America’s Donald Trump made history when he came from a purely economic background to challenged and beat a political guru like Hilary Clinton in November 2016. Being the President of the most powerful nation in the world, he, therefore, ascended to the throne reserved for the most influential personality of the world. That explains why any move he undertakes gets

Meanwhile, America’s President, Donald Trump, made history as he came from a purely economic background and managed to challenge and beat a political guru like Hilary Clinton in November 2016. Being the President of the most powerful nation in the world, Trump, therefore, ascended to the throne reserved for the most influential personality of the world. That explains why any move he undertakes gets a global reaction, just like when he pulled America out of the Paris Climate Agreement in June. Trump also has a stake in the Syrian conflict and heads one camp of countries backing opposition fighters against another coalition made up of Syria, Iran, and Russia, with the latter determining the pace of events.

Both Putin and Trump are major players in one of the most deadly conflicts in Europe since the end of the Cold War, the conflict in Ukraine. In 2014, after just two years in office, Putin intervened in the conflict and annexed Crimea, which was formerly under Ukraine and his approval rating moved from 62% in 2013 to 85.9% in 2014. The conflict’s lifespan largely depends on these two and, not even European leaders who have become frustrated, get in the middle of two powerful men. Remarkably, another issue in the cupboard of these two Commanders-in-chief” is the alleged interference of Russian spy agency in the November Presidential election in the U.S. Hilary Clinton’s Democratic Party claimed that Russia sponsored hackers to interfere in the election in order to impose a Russia-friendly president on Americans. That explains why Trumps victory was greeted with joy in Russia and Putin feels more comfortable working with Trump than with the former President Barack Obama, whom Russians belief has publicly humiliated the Russian Federation and its strongman, President Vladimir Putin.

Since coming to power in January 2017, President Trump has sworn to “make America great again” and, probably, at any cost. It was the same message propagated by President Putin when he took over power for the second time in 2012, just months after the Syrian war started. Previously, Russia suffered several setbacks and little known countries like Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and China had became the most influential in the East. Putin’s second coming to power was to make “Russia great again” and put himself on top. His golden opportunity came during the Syrian war and today, Russia, which had been relegated to the background by America, is seen as a major challenger.

On another note, within their personal lives, both President Trump and President Putin have a huge appetite for power and influence. To expand, both men want to remain on top at all costs and would go the extra mile just to project their positions. For example, Trump went as far as to build a tower in the heart of New York where he occupies the top floor, which allows him to view “the world” from a presumably high position. In 2004, when his image and popularity were dwindling, he created a reality television show, The Apprentice, which was aimed as projecting him as the “Boss” who could fire you at any time.

On the other hand, Putin has taken to physical activities to prove that he is the strongest person of the East. For instance, in 2009, he swam the cold Siberia River bare-chested, just to demonstrate his physical tenability. He is also a pilot, a martial arts champion, a horseman, and he has tranquillized animals like tigers. Putin is one of the rare Western leaders who left The Presidency and came back just to finish his business of making himself great.

With that said, today, both President Trump and President Putin have actually become influential, even more so than the United Nations Secretary-General. However, their huge appetite for power has hijacked the world and made it unsafe, as well as plunging it in a desperate economic situation with the common man paying the greatest price.