Accidentally posted this is in the Great Debates section. My bad. Shouldn’t post BC (before coffee). Anyway:
Here in the good ol’ US of A, it is quite the cliche to refer to our president as the “leader of the free world.” Question for you non-Americans – do you view you the US president as such? Seems to me that’s kind of insulting to every other sovereign nation to claim out guy is the “real” leader. Is that more or less and Americanized title, or is it used elsewhere?
I can assure you it’s very Americanized.
I don’t find it insulting or anything, but I certainly don’t see Clinton or Bush as “my” leader. And I do consider my country (The Netherlands) part of the free world. In some respects, I’d say it defines the “free world” better than the USA does. 
My usual reaction is a smug smile - it is a bit of an ignorant statement, after all.
Being Swedish I cannot but agree.
mwg1234, two things:
First, do not double post like that. If you place something in the wrong forum, contact a forum moderator and we’ll move it for you.
Second, sorry, but strike 2! This thread belongs in the forum “In My Humble Opinion.” I’ll shoot it over there for you.
Rats! - I answered this over in GD just as the thread was locked, and now my fellow Eurodopers have reduced my possibilities to a simple “me too” - IOW, nope, the US president is not my “leader” in any way. Does anyone still say “the Free World” ? - I thought it went out with the cold war.
Anyway, there you have it.
S. Norman
Not to even try to be as powerful as a mod… but strike 2.398. I’m pretty sure we don’t allow the posting of “My bad” at all.
::checking rule book::
At any rate, welcome to the boards. Drop your coat off in the back bedroom and make yourself comfortable. There’s chips on the coffee table and a cold keg on the back deck. Sign up for the darts tournament.
Is the US president the “leader of the free world”? According to this Canadian, no. I wouldn’t regard him as my leader (our leader?) simply because I had no say in who got the job.
I wonder if the US-based media perpetuates this image. Here in Canada, we are regularly treated to all kinds of American political news. That’s to be expected, since we get all the US networks, and many of the cable channels, and they are designed for American consumption.
But the print media, even those publications which purportedly are the “Canadian” editions, covers US politics extensively, as if we were on the edge of our seats waiting for the latest American news. For example, the Canadian edition of Time magazine ran a few covers on the US primaries back in 1999. (“McCain? Isn’t that a brand of frozen french fries? Oh, he’s a US politician.” 
)
And of course, there was the latest election debacle, which used the phrase “leader of the free world” extensively. Is the Canadian edition of Time just following the orders of the US parent? I don’t think that phrase would be voluntarily written by a Canadian journalist.
Because the US is right next door to Canada, perhaps? That answer doesn’t really work–while in Australia during 1999, I looked at the Australian edition of Time, and sure enough, US primary elections were on the cover. A better question might be, “Do the Australians really care who won the Iowa primary?”
I don’t deny that the US president is an important player on the world scene, and certainly is more often newsworthy than the leaders of many other nations. But to call him “the leader of the free world” is stretching it a bit, I think. Especially when most people in the free world have no say in who he is.
“Me too” to my fellow Europeans: it’s insulting, arrogant, inaccurate and solipsistic.
It’s often used ironically by Europeans, though. As in, “The Leader of the Free World doesn’t realise that Slovakia and Slovenia are two separate countries” or “The LotFW can’t name the Head of Government of one of the two countries which borders his own” or “The LotFW appears to have difficulty keeping his trousers on”.
I’ve heard the Israeli press refer to him that way, and most Israelis regard the U.S. sort of as “first among equals”. The American President probably gets more respect in Israel than he gets at home.
I understand we’re kind of unique, though.
I understand there are a lot of American expats in Israel, which might colour the attitudes of the local media there. That, and the fact that Israel is more highly dependent on US military supoport than any other country.