True or false or somewhere in between?

Somewhere in between is about right.

By virtue of being a democracy and the richest country they are the leaders of the (Western) 'free-world' - nothing happens without their consent.

Whether they lead us with moral authority is another matter.

The free world is equally problematic - many countries are 'democracies' i.e. they have elections, but who would think off Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan, India, etc as places to live a free life.

Spot on Papaoscar. And while I agree with Bags about the freedom to speak ones mind, that freedom is limited in many of the countries which align themselves with the USA, and indeed for many in the USA too.

As for the American President being the leader - I don't recall any election where those other than citizens of the USA who have managed to get themselves on their electoral roll, have been permitted to vote.

It would be interesting if you started a thread on that GillT57.

Unless you are African-American of course.

I think you would know where the free world is if you didn't live in it.

America does seem to lead the way globally, for better or for worse.

That'll do for me bags.
Another cracker from popaoscar

The free world is where people can say what they think, even things someone else might think insulting or blasphemous without being arrested for a 'crime'.

Disclaimer: I am not including threats of violence in my definition of free speech.

The free world. What does that mean? Free to stand-up, sit-down, lie about in the sun? I suppose it means having the right to vote in the fair election of your government. Problem is that more and more deeply entrenched powerful groups both within and without national boundaries are getting their hands on more and more real power and dominating the way nations work. With the apparent collapse of communism, capitalism is now rampant world-wide. Is that to the benefit of ordinary people? Capitalism exists for one purpose only - to make profit, and without constraints it will do just that, remorselessly, without ethics or morality. The champion of that process has been the USA, so I suppose the American President can be said to be the leader of the so-called 'free world' at the moment, but for how much longer. Who can say?