Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman, Boris Johnson says


Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he were a woman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson told German media outlets on Tuesday.
"You need more women in positions of power. If Putin was a woman — which he obviously isn't, but if he were — I really don't think he would've embarked on a crazy macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson said. "If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it's what he's doing in Ukraine."
So, would Vladimira Vladimirovna Putin have left Ukraine alone? Maybe, but history provides no basis for that assumption. Female leaders appear to be just as bellicose as male ones, if not more so. Russian Empresses Elizabeth, Anna, and Catherine the Great all fought multiple wars during their reigns.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Johnson's own country provides plenty of examples. Within his lifetime, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waged the undeclared Falklands War against Argentina. British forces took part in around 50 international conflicts during the reign of Queen Victoria. Queens Elizabeth I and Mary I both sent troops to fight on the European continent.
In fact, a 2017 working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that, between 1480 and 1913, European queens were 27 percent more likely than European kings to wage war.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Israel: Losing the American public
Feature A recent poll finds American support for Israel's military action in Gaza has fallen from 50% to 32%
-
Unmaking Americans
Feature Trump is threatening to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans. Could he do that?
-
EPA: A bonfire of climate change regulations
Feature The Environmental Protection Agency wants to roll back its 'endangerment finding,' a ruling that lets the agency regulate carbon emissions
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crime
Speed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
Eighty years after Hiroshima: how close is nuclear conflict?
Today's Big Question Eight decades on from the first atomic bomb 'we have blundered into a new age of nuclear perils'
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil