The President of Cyprus on Whether Democracy Still Works | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

I sat down with Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus — and the rare leader who came to politics as a historian first. Cyprus is a country of a million and a half people sitting on the bridge between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which makes it one of the most strategically placed nations on earth right now. We got into why he believes the world is sliding back into raw power politics, why the institutions built after World War II no longer reflect reality, why India has to be at the centre of whatever replaces them, and why he thinks war is the easiest mistake a country can make and the hardest to undo. We also talked about democracy under pressure, why he moved from the left to the centre-right over a lifetime, what AI might do to work and governance, and what it actually feels like to wake up every day and carry the weight of a country. He told me it's a very lonely role — and that the only thing that matters is whether history, not tomorrow's headlines, judges you well.00:00 Introduction03:07 Being a historian first, a politician second08:02 Why power politics is returning to the world12:03 The case for India on the UN Security Council17:01 How postwar institutions favoured the incumbents22:23 Whether democracy still delivers economic progress27:02 Designing a new regional order from India to Europe34:39 Why interests, not values, reshape alliances40:53 The only real way to avoid war42:35 Where he stands on left versus right46:02 Moving from academia into political reality47:11 What AI could do to work and democracy52:08 Thinking about the next generation, not the next election56:22 What it feels like to hold power1:03:09 What diplomacy taught him about negotiation1:07:57 A closing argument for India's leading role#NikhilKamath – Co-founder of Zerodha and GruhasHost of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' PodcastTwitter/X: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/Nikos Christodoulides – President of the Republic of CyprusLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikos-christodoulides-660b02139/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikoschristodoulides/?hl=enX: https://x.com/ChristodulidesWatch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotifyhttps://tinyurl.com/4nsm4eznWatch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotifyhttps://tinyurl.com/yme92c59Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotifyhttps://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th#WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline