# If instead of wars leaders fought each other...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 17, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517 "2013-08-17T23:27:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/1 "2013-08-17T23:27:25Z")
…which country would be the most militarily powerful?
So a blue fella from a lamp granted me a wish - world peace! But he made a good point that countries will still have disputes to settle in the way that armies would have. I retorted - MMA! Using [UFC rules](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship#Rules) leaders will duke it out to decide the victor.
Much more civilised. But who on [this list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_heads_of_state_and_government) would be the king of the ring? If a country has a separate individual as head of state and head of government they nominate the most likely to win a fight.
Obama is fairly athletic and would have a good reach, as well as being relatively young so I don’t think he’d fair too badly. However, I think bad Vlad would [clean up.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin#Martial_arts) He looks like he could snap a man in half without changing his expression.
In this new world, which countries now have the most ‘military’ power? Which presidents and prime ministers would be tidiest in the MMA ring?
---
### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/2 "2013-08-17T23:42:13Z")
Putin.
Did you know Teddy Roosevelt had a boxing ring built in the White House so he could fight the leaders of other countries?
---
### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/3 "2013-08-18T00:39:13Z")
In ancient China rulers/generals would challenge one another to single combat. Seemed a lot more fun when they were fighting with spears, swords and halbards though.
---
### Author:  [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/4 "2013-08-18T01:02:42Z")
Isn’t Putin ex-KGB? My money’s on the Russian.
---
### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/5 "2013-08-18T01:20:05Z")
Yeah, he’s totally creepy, but those topless pictures of Putin are…impressive.
---
### Author:  [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/6 "2013-08-18T01:35:59Z")
I’d say Putin in a landslide but out of curiosity I clicked on a few random leaders from the wiki page and Timor Leste and Botswana both had military-background leaders.
> **[Taur Matan Ruak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taur_Matan_Ruak)**
>
> José Maria Vasconcelos GColIH (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who has served as the prime minister of East Timor since 2018. He was also President of East Timor from 20 May 2012 to 20 May 2017.
> Before entering politics, he was the Commander of the FALINTIL-Forças de Defesa de Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), the military of East Timor, from 2002 until 6 October 2011. Prior to serving in the F-FDTL, he was the last c...
> **[Ian Khama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Khama)**
>
> Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, he entered politics and was Vice-President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008, then succeeded Festus Mogae as President on 1 April 2008. He won a full term in the 2009 election and was re-elected in October 2014.
>
> Ian Khama is the second child of Sir ...
Probably still Putin but let’s just say… QE2 better watch her back.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/7 "2013-08-18T01:54:40Z")
Israel’s in trouble. Sure, Peres was a soldier back in the day but he’s 90 years old.
---
### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/8 "2013-08-18T02:13:26Z")
new emergency elections all around.
---
### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/9 "2013-08-18T04:06:05Z")
> [@johnpost](#):
>
> new emergency elections all around.
I think 3 time Smackdown champion Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho is a shoe-in.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/10 "2013-08-18T06:24:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Israel’s in trouble. Sure, Peres was a soldier back in the day but he’s 90 years old.
Peres is head of state - essentially a figurehead (also, he was never a soldier). Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, OTOH, much as I dislike him, was an officer in one of Israel’s most elite special operations units, and a serious badass back in the day. I’d still give Putin the advantage in unarmed combat due to sheer body mass, but give Bibi a weapon - any weapon - and he’ll take it in a walk.
---
### Author:  [@notsoheavyd3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsoheavyd3)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/11 "2013-08-18T12:51:50Z")
Umm, you guys realize Putin is a judo expert right?(Which btw I always thought it was funny Alec Baldwin claiming if he were president that he could push Vlad because Alec is so tough. Then again I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not.) Let’s see, according to Wikipedia he’s actually at an advanced level at both karate and judo. Admittedly he’s 60 but given that most leaders are at least 50+ I don’t think he’d have much trouble wiping the floor with pretty much anybody.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin#Martial\_arts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin#Martial_arts)
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/12 "2013-08-18T12:56:24Z")
But has he ever actually fought someone for real?
---
### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/13 "2013-08-18T13:01:59Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> But has he ever actually fought someone for real?
You don’t become head of KGB without it.
---
### Author:  [@notsoheavyd3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsoheavyd3)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/14 "2013-08-18T13:05:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> But has he ever actually fought someone for real?
No idea if you mean has he been in a figurative street fight. However his skill set(judo/karate) would transfer over quite nicely to MMA. Actually aren’t the judokas kind of big on doing real matches? (Instead of point fighting or doing a routing or something.) Anybody with a background in judo want to chime in?
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/15 "2013-08-18T13:10:48Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> You don’t become head of KGB without it.
Actually, it’s quite easy to reach the head of a massive hidebound bureaucracy without any practical experience. Putin was probably real good at sucking up.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/16 "2013-08-18T13:13:32Z")
> [@notsoheavyd3](#):
>
> No idea if you mean has he been in a figurative street fight. However his skill set(judo/karate) would transfer over quite nicely to MMA. Actually aren’t the judokas kind of big on doing real matches? (Instead of point fighting or doing a routing or something.) Anybody with a background in judo want to chime in?
My question is this - has he ever killed a man before? Because we’re talking about a fight to the death here. Training is nice, but the fact is that some people are killers and some people aren’t. Until the moment of truth, there’s no way of knowing if training is worth anything.
---
### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/17 "2013-08-18T13:18:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Because we’re talking about a fight to the death here.
We weren’t until you brought it up.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/18 "2013-08-18T13:20:22Z")
[Rereads the OP]
Huh.
Right, then.
---
### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/19 "2013-08-18T13:33:55Z")
How are we defining leaders for these purposes?
Do ceremonial, but powerless, heads of state count? Or is it just the folks who actually have to make decisions that get dragged into this? (For example, if Canada and Japan went to war, would we be talking Queen Elizabeth II vs Emperor Akihito, or would we be talking Stephen Harper vs Shinzo Abe?)
Either way, I think Russia’d end up as a pretty heavy-duty power - Putin’s got training, he’s got mass and brute strength, and he’s the kind of guy I can see fighting dirty, and figuring out a way to get away with it.
---
### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517/20 "2013-08-18T13:39:19Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#):
>
> Queen Elizabeth II vs Emperor Akihito.
I’d pay to see that fight.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-instead-of-wars-leaders-fought-each-other/666517.md?page=2)