Hryhoriy Mesezhnikov: Liberal democracies prevail over authoritarian regimes

Hryhoriy Mesezhnikov

Is the West’s extra quick progress which stems in part from austerity on military spending, due to the suicide of the USSR? Could this be reason for any last Halloween in human history after 33 years? On the eve of the Halloween we’ve asked Hryhoriy Mesezhnikov, President of the Institute of Civil Affairs in Slovakia, to comment.

 — Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

The Soviet Union collapsed because the state structure of this entity was not viable. And the internal organization of the communist state was not meant to last. The international formations that the USSR created, the Warsaw Pact, and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance were also unable to compete with the free world.

But the West certainly underestimated the ability of authoritarian regimes to modify, change, and return to a strong position.

— What form of government do you think is the best?

Francis Fukuyama was right that the liberal democratic regime is indeed still the most comfortable form of social order in terms of people’s lives, conditions, socio-economic, and political, at the same time, the question that was being discussed at the time whether history was over or not, the West was trying to digest this illusion in some way, given the events, that it believed that the possibilities of authoritarian forms of government were limited, and there was an idea to reduce military budgets because of the belief that the era of authoritarianism was over, and to think calmly about peaceful coexistence.

However, these were premature conclusions. Unfortunately, although the USSR has collapsed, its imperial character did not allow it to coexist in modern conditions. Russia, as usual, was sick with the imperial paradigm, and it is no coincidence that the revival of authoritarianism went hand in hand with the restoration of the imperial approach to foreign policy and security issues.

— Could this year’s Halloween be the last one in human history?

Instead, this year’s Halloween will not be the last one in the history of mankind, because the illusions about possible coexistence or even cooperation with authoritarian regimes are gradually disappearing, and in my opinion, the regime that exists in Russia and other countries: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Belarus: is not just authoritarian, it is a regime of rogue states that are not capable of civilized coexistence with the world. This international of outcasts, the axis of evil, is uniting. Russia is waging war against Ukraine; Iran is waging war against Israel. These states – Russia and Iran – are cooperating, and I think the West is beginning to realize that it is time to return to the paradigm of confrontation with those who want to destroy Western freedom and democracy.

The situation is not easy, but it would be premature to say that the West, with its technological, social, and ultimately military advantages, may be defeated in the fight against the axis of evil. To prevent such a defeat, we need responsible leadership in Western countries.

Unfortunately, we now see that such leadership has problems. If a country unable to cope with Ukraine is forced to seek support from Iran and North Korea, its ambitions are unlikely to be realized. Liberal democracy is superior to authoritarian regimes.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Central Europe and Canada), Project Manager at V5 Media, Maryna Kovalchuk, contributed.

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