Vladimir Putin is perhaps first among the anti-democratic strongmen that have emerged to soil the world. At the recent G20 summit he couldn’t resist taking a shot at liberal democracy, suggesting that it is becoming obsolete. The fact is that while the system he so loved, and faithfully served—Soviet Communism—lies mouldering in its grave along with its millions of victims, liberal democracy despite its current problems is thriving. In fact, for the first time in history most countries are liberal democracies.
Putin’s vantage point is not one to envy. The country he runs struggles under his corrupt and incompetent leadership. (Read more…) one resource—oil—it would be utterly bankrupt, and without nuclear weapons, it would have no influence in the world.
He claimed that Donald Trump’s victory was rooted in growing disaffection with mainstream liberal policies, and there is certainly some truth in that. But he didn’t note that Trump was raised to power by liberal democracy and in the not too distant future, it will discard him. Meanwhile the Russians are stuck with their president for the indefinite future.
The expressions of discontent Putin witnesses in Western countries are signs not of weaknesses but of strength. Liberal democracy is easy to criticize and always is by autocrats. It conducts its business in public, often noisily, and its flaws are exposed for all to see. But it is also intensely self-critical and highly amenable to change, and that is why it has grown and prospered for 330 years while despots and totalitarian regimes have fallen by the wayside. One only needs to witness the vigorous debate taking place among Democratic Party hopefuls in the U.S. and the innovative and varied ideas they are debating. In contrast, one wonders where the vigorous debate and new ideas in Russia are, a nation in vastly greater need of them than the United States.
Putin only knows systems where dissent is suppressed, building up until the system either explodes or collapses from rot. He ought to know this because that’s exactly what happened to his beloved communism—one of the many dictatorships that liberal democracy sees in its rearview mirror.