Thomas Graham — The problem isn’t Putin, it’s Russia

Summary:
As relations worsen, US must realize Russia will not soon, if ever, become a liberal democracy.… Carried away by ahistorical reasoning, the U.S. believed its victory in the Cold War meant that Russia, like all other countries, had little choice but to adopt the liberal democratic free-market order that had brought prosperity and peace to the West.... The real problem is viewing this as problem. Probably no non-Western state will become a liberal democracy because it is not in accord with the culture and temperament of the people. This is not a problem; it is a fact of history. Wanting it to be otherwise results in wishful thinking and, worse, magical thinking.The problem is assuming that Western liberalism, and worse, Anglo-American liberalism, are based on eternal truth. This is the

Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important: liberalism, paradoxes of liberalism, Russia, Vladimir Putin

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