The Cosmopolitan Leaders Dataset

Figure 4 displays the top 30 host countries for prospective foreign leaders. As one might expect, the top hosts of these future leaders are the European great powers and the United States. The US has been the top host between 1875 and 2015, with 365 foreign leaders having resided there at some point before taking office. France is a close second, hosting 310 potential leaders, while the United Kingdom has hosted 274 future leaders. Russia (including the Soviet Union) and Germany have hosted 159 and 124 foreign leaders, respectively. Many of these future leaders have pursued higher education or professional training in these host countries. World-renowned institutions in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Russia, such as Cambridge, Harvard, Humboldt, and Moscow State University, offer prestigious academic programs and access to global elite networks, attracting aspiring leaders from around the world. International metropolises like New York, London, Paris, and Berlin also serve as hubs of economic and political dynamism, attracting ambitious entrepreneurs, revolutionaries, and political activists. In a sense, the ability to attract and host future leaders demonstrates the soft power of these countries.