Putin and Defeated Liberalism

Russian President Announces the New World Order

A few weeks ago, Vladimir Putin delivered a speech—an epoch-making address that laid out his new political doctrine, though it went largely unnoticed by many. This speech occurred the day after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. The tone of a victor was unmistakable: Putin was celebrating a triumph. From his words, it was clear that he considers himself the winner of the war in Ukraine, the leader of the Global South, and the one offering terms to the West on behalf of all authoritarian leaders.

New World Order Is Emerging

Several years ago, when I stepped down as editor-in-chief of Russia’s only independent news television channel, I swore to myself that I would never again listen to Putin’s speeches.

But after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I’ve been forced to break that vow. The fact is, Putin’s speeches are sometimes significant. He has been in power for so long that his addresses have taken on a confessional tone. This was true of his infamous 2007 Munich speech, when he first openly challenged the West, and again in 2014, when he announced the annexation of Crimea in a Kremlin ceremony. Now, Putin’s recent speech in Sochi appears to mark another turning point. He seems to believe that he has won the war. His address carries the implication that, with the Democrats’ loss in the U.S. elections, the Western world he has fought against is defeated—and Putin is delivering his verdict.

Putin begins with a statement of fact: “Before our very eyes, an entirely new world order is emerging, unlike anything we’ve seen before—neither the Westphalian system nor the Yalta system.” This theme has been a refrain in many of his past speeches: he has long called for the creation of a new world order, insisting that the Yalta system is obsolete. Now, he speaks of this as an accomplished fact. Whether the West wanted it or not, the old order is destroyed, and “a fierce, uncompromising struggle is underway to shape the new one.”

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

Then he turns to that struggle. To be precise, he threatens the West with nuclear war and annihilation, but in a philosophical tone he hasn’t used before: “Can human society remain a society with its ethical and humanistic foundations intact? Can humanity remain human? It might seem that there is no alternative. At first glance. But, unfortunately, there is.”

The world has likely never heard a more elegant justification for nuclear war. “In the policies of the United States and their allies in recent years, the principle of ‘if we can’t have it, no one can’ has become increasingly evident,” Putin stated. “This formula is very dangerous. After all, as the saying goes, ‘as you sow, so shall you reap.’” With this, Putin continues to threaten humanity with destruction, all while feigning that he is being forced into such a position.

He then articulates his ideology, one for which he is prepared to fight. It is strikingly straightforward: the rejection of any ideology, any principles or values that might be considered universal. Putin's main adversary is Western liberalism:

“The threat lies in the imposition and normalization of ideologies that are totalitarian in essence, as we see in today’s Western liberalism, which, I believe, has degenerated into extreme intolerance and aggression toward any alternative, toward any sovereign and independent thought.”

Global Cynicism

How should this paradoxical statement be deciphered? Simply put, Putin insists that every dictator deserves tolerance. Every regime has the right to carry out its own repressions. Kim Jong Un is entitled to kill as many people as he deems necessary; the Taliban are free to impose any laws they wish on women; the Venezuelan authorities can rig their elections however they like. Each country has its own values, and no one should be taught how to live differently.

The fact that the West regards human rights as a universal value is, in Putin’s view, a “claim to exceptionalism, to liberal-globalist messianism.” He labels this as nothing more than a remnant of colonialism and advises the West to stop preaching democracy to the world. Primarily, he argues, because it’s ineffective: the effort to propagate Western values globally will only drain the resources of Western countries.

US As New USSR

“I am confident that sooner or later the West will understand this,” Putin claims. “After all, its past great achievements were always based on a pragmatic, sober approach, grounded in a rather harsh, sometimes cynical, but rational assessment of events and its own capabilities.” Here, he essentially tips his hat to Donald Trump, implying that Trump already understands this lesson. In Putin’s view, a cynical approach to politics is far preferable to clinging to outdated principles.

To bolster his argument, Putin turns to history. He points out that the Soviet Union also sought to spread its own ideology and even achieved some success, contributing positively along the way—such as helping African nations break free from colonial dependence. But, he argues, the USSR’s global ambitions and the economic burden of maintaining its international influence ultimately undermined its economy.

Intriguingly, in this speech, Putin rehabilitates Mikhail Gorbachev. Previously, Gorbachev had been vilified by Putin’s ideologues as a traitor to national interests. Now, he is reimagined as a well-meaning but naïve dreamer—someone who had good intentions but ultimately failed.

Putin goes on to assert that the United States exploited the situation, wielding liberal ideology as a weapon. He paints a vivid picture of the virtues of global opportunism:

“Unlike our opponents, Russia does not view Western civilization as an enemy. We do not frame the question as ‘it’s either us or them.’ Once again, I’ll emphasize: ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’—we never say that. We don’t want to teach anyone how to live or impose our worldview on anyone.”

Savage Face of Capitalism

Putin is not exaggerating. A clear example of his approach can be seen in Russia's longstanding activities in Africa. For years, Russia has operated effectively on the continent by offering no ideological agenda—neither socialist nor liberal—simply supporting dictators willing to pay. It’s a purely capitalist approach, one that Putin now proposes as the global standard.

Finally, the most important theme for Putin is the lifting of sanctions. This is the core of his message: convincing the West that sanctions should be abolished.

“Today, the same forces and individuals are trying to use restrictions as a tool to pressure dissenters. This will not work for the same reason—because the vast majority of the world stands for openness without politicization,” Putin asserts. This is perhaps the most telling passage of his new doctrine. By “politicization,” he means any attention to internal issues such as human rights violations, corruption, or criminality. His principle is simple: don’t interfere in internal affairs, conduct business pragmatically. In other words, this is capitalism stripped of any idealistic veneer—the raw form of capitalism that Soviet propagandists once derided as the “savage face of capitalism.”

In Putin’s view, every country is akin to a corporation with its own internal management rules, norms, and traditions. Some corporations are owned by their workers; others have a sole proprietor. Some allow casual dress; others require uniforms. Some respect LGBTQ rights; others are run by homophobic owners—and there’s nothing to be done about it.

Brand New Feudal World

Essentially, Putin advocates a return to a feudal world, albeit one that retains the benefits of a modern open economy. “The modern world tolerates neither arrogance nor deafness to the characteristics and identity of others,” he declares. For Putin, this means systemic corruption, hatred of minorities, police violence, or habitual election rigging in many countries should be respected as local customs, traditional values deserving of deference.

“To build normal relations, you must first listen to your interlocutor, understand their logic, their cultural foundation, rather than impose your own assumptions about them. Otherwise, communication turns into an exchange of clichés and labels, and politics becomes a dialogue of the deaf.”

Of course, not everyone in Putin’s envisioned world order will have a voice. For example, he dismisses Ukraine’s aspirations to join Europe as the “appropriation of our historical territories.” Moreover, he appears ready to justify other nations’ desires to wage war on their neighbors: “We were forced into retaliatory actions; in this sense, they achieved what they wanted. The same is happening in Asia, on the Korean Peninsula.” Here, he seems to be recounting a recent conversation with Kim Jong Un.

Putin does not hide the fact that his new world order will resemble something out of the Middle Ages: wars will be frequent, and that, in his view, is perfectly normal. “Throughout centuries of history, humanity has grown accustomed to resolving disputes by force. Yes, that happens too. Might makes right, and this principle also works. Nations have to defend their interests militarily, asserting them by any means necessary,” he declares.

Don’t Swim Against A Current

Finally, Putin insists that these views are not his alone. Referring to the recent BRICS summit, he claims to speak on behalf of all its participants: “We are fighting not only for our own freedom, rights, and sovereignty but also defending the universal rights and freedoms, the opportunities for existence and development of the absolute majority of states.”

Putin is convinced that the countries of the Global South desire this new world order and that resistance to it is futile: “Even the most skilled swimmer, no matter what tricks or even doping he uses, cannot swim against a powerful current. And the current of global politics, the mainstream, is flowing in a direction opposite to the aspirations of the West.”

The overriding impression from Putin’s speech is that his intended audience is not the people who listened to him in Sochi, nor the readers of this text. He has only one true addressee: Donald Trump. Putin’s words are aimed at explaining his vision directly to Trump: “When, say, Washington and other Western capitals comprehend and acknowledge this undeniable, immutable fact, the process of constructing a global system aligned with the challenges of the future will finally enter a phase of true creation. God willing, this happens as soon as possible. It is in the common interest, especially that of the West itself.”