The New Ideologies in the New Cold War

Ressort: Special interest
The New Ideologies in the New Cold War
Eurasia, 10.08.2016 [ENA]
In its best days, Communism claimed that capitalism had betrayed the worker. So what should we make of
Moscow?s new battle cry that democracy has betrayed the voter? It?s a worldview that has become
increasingly clear through the era of Russia?s president Putin, via a mosaic of public political statements,
off-the-record discussions and intelligence insights. Let?s call it ?orderism?.
Orderism has started to challenge democracy in many parts of the world ? Turkey, Poland, the Philippines.
But Russia believes it holds the copyright on this formula, and sees it as the sharp end of the wedge it is
trying to drive among the nations of the West.
The ideology?s basic political premise is that liberal democracy and international law have not lived up to
their promise. Instead of creating stability, they have produced inequality and chaos. The secular religion
worshiped in the Western parliaments was globalization (or, in Europe?s case, "Europeanization"). These
beliefs, according to the orderists, overlooked the downsides.
The most obvious downside, according to orderism, is that open borders and global trade have led to job
loss and mass migration. At the same time, a mental borderlessness has shaken liberal societies: with
potentially every traditional value now up for negotiation, no habit, custom or institution is sacred. The
same leniency that allows for free sale of marijuana, same-sex marriages and the crowning of a bearded
drag queen as the winner of the Eurovision song contest also tolerates militant Islamism within Western
borders.
It is the same moral weakness and decadence, orderism warns, that preceded the fall of previous empires.
Like Nero, the establishment is fiddling in its palaces while Rome burns.
Orderism also claims that, on the globally, international law is beaten into submission by the rules of the
strongest. Even the West, they say, adheres to the global rule of law only when it suits its interests. When it
doesn?t, the US and its allies ignore or circumvent United Nations provisions. Orderists believe that events
in Ukraine in 2014 are Exhibit A for Western hypocrisy: the US encouraged and financed a coup in Kiev,
they say, and installed obedient politicians afterward. The rule of law and liberal multilateralism, they
insist, are just Trojan horses, carrying the West closer and closer to their borders.
Therefore it is an act of self-defense for Russia, in the orderist worldview, to secure the Crimean Peninsula,
with its Russian Navy port; to increase military spending; and to hold frequent military exercises along the
Redaktioneller Programmdienst:
European News Agency
Annette-Kolb-Str. 16
D-85055 Ingolstadt
Telefon: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.660
Telefax: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.661
Email: [email protected]
Internet: european-news-agency.com
Haftungsausschluss:
Der Herausgeber übernimmt keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit
oder Vollständigkeit der veröffentlichten Meldung, sondern
stellt lediglich den Speicherplatz für die Bereitstellung und
den Zugriff auf Inhalte Dritter zur Verfügung. Für den Inhalt
der Meldung ist der allein jeweilige Autor verantwortlich.
- Seite 1 von 3 -
Russian-NATO borders. Just as the West contained an aggressive East in the 20th century, orderism
believes the East must now contain a megalomaniac and arrogant West to prevent the spread of even more
chaos.
Orderism prioritizes stability over democracy and offers an alternative to the moral abyss of laissez-faire
societies. Russia stands as a model for this new social contract. This contract is built on patriotism,
traditional gender roles, Orthodox Christianity, military strength and, at the top, a benevolent czar who will
promise only as much as he can deliver (provided the public gives him sufficient support, he can deliver a
lot). Orderism may not yet boast the same economic performance as liberalism, but its adherents insist that
the cohesion and the common spirit of an orderly nation will allow it to outlive the inevitable downturn of
the disorderly West.
It?s easy to see why, especially for those who have suffered under liberal democracy, orderism is appealing.
But just as the utopian promises of Communism were merely a fig leaf for tyranny, the official face of
orderism hides something much darker. Order is attractive only until it stifles, and then represses.
Unchecked autocrats turn on the weakest and most vulnerable as scapegoats, and lash out in foreign
misadventures to divert attention from problems at home. Society breaks down; fear reigns. Orderism
ultimately will fail to deliver on its own promises
What is worth noting, though, is how compatible orderism is with the attitudes of many voters in the US
and Europe. Donald Trump?s campaign give a promise of tough order. And the decision of British voters to
leave the European Union, catalyzed by the promise of an orderly, independent England, was nothing but
an attempt to stop the frightening and discomfitting effects of globalization. Part of the difficulty in dealing
with orderism is that it is ideological without being an ideology. It is mercurial, pragmatic and cynical; its
meaning and values change to fit the circumstances
Yet, in fronting today?s orderism, there is one lesson the West can draw from yesterday?s fight against
Communism. Western leaders must respond to criticisms of liberal democracy, not simply reject them as
the product of an insidious, anti-liberal worldview. If Franklin D. Roosevelt and Western Europe?s postwar
leaders had dismissed calls for stronger welfare states as Communist-inspired, they would have invited
revolution. Instead, they built progressive state institutions that drained the appeal of anti-liberalism.
If jobs are lost and terrorist attacks are mounting, democratic politicians have to have the steady nerves and
fresh ideas to carry out the necessary repair work. In this new clash of worldviews, we need a new
generation of Roosevelts, Adenauers and Monnets, leaders who will take on orderism?s challenge without
lashing out at its adherents. A calm adversarial spirit is what can make democracy great again.
Redaktioneller Programmdienst:
European News Agency
Annette-Kolb-Str. 16
D-85055 Ingolstadt
Telefon: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.660
Telefax: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.661
Email: [email protected]
Internet: european-news-agency.com
Haftungsausschluss:
Der Herausgeber übernimmt keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit
oder Vollständigkeit der veröffentlichten Meldung, sondern
stellt lediglich den Speicherplatz für die Bereitstellung und
den Zugriff auf Inhalte Dritter zur Verfügung. Für den Inhalt
der Meldung ist der allein jeweilige Autor verantwortlich.
- Seite 2 von 3 -
Bericht online lesen:
http://www.european-news-agency.de/special_interest/the_new_ideologies_in_the_new_cold_war-65408/
Redaktion und Verantwortlichkeit:
V.i.S.d.P. und gem. § 6 MDStV: Anton Elstner
Redaktioneller Programmdienst:
European News Agency
Annette-Kolb-Str. 16
D-85055 Ingolstadt
Telefon: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.660
Telefax: +49 (0) 841-951. 99.661
Email: [email protected]
Internet: european-news-agency.com
Haftungsausschluss:
Der Herausgeber übernimmt keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit
oder Vollständigkeit der veröffentlichten Meldung, sondern
stellt lediglich den Speicherplatz für die Bereitstellung und
den Zugriff auf Inhalte Dritter zur Verfügung. Für den Inhalt
der Meldung ist der allein jeweilige Autor verantwortlich.
- Seite 3 von 3 -