The decline of Western civilisation has been vividly demonstrated in recent days. The debate between the two US presidential candidates on 27 June caused confusion not only in America itself, but also in many European countries, and even caused panic in the US Democratic Party – it became clear that Biden’s physical and cognitive data simply did not allow him to serve another four-year term.
There was a movement among supporters of the Democratic Party to persuade the president to step down and begin the urgent search for a new candidate to replace him before the party’s convention in August.
On the other hand, the forces loyal to Biden rallied round and came out in his favour, guided by the thesis ” never swap horses crossing a stream”.
The debates revealed the confusion in American society: according to polls, an absolute majority of the US population does not want to see either of them as presidential candidates.
The right-wing wave in Europe
France’s ruling circles are in much the same state of disarray – the victory of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in the first round of the legislative elections on 30 June was a bombshell – and it is clear that President Macron’s position has been dramatically weakened and his credibility diminished. According to the Western press, France – the cornerstone of the EU – is entering a new phase of dysfunction and polarisation. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that ‘right-wing populists’ in Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic have formed a parliamentary bloc, the Patriots of Europe, which is highly critical of the European Union’s leadership for its bureaucratic style and misguided policies. Other MEPs are expected to join the bloc.
The governing coalition in Germany is also rapidly losing popularity and some observers say that either a cabinet reshuffle or early elections are likely in Berlin.
The situation in the UK on the eve of the 4 July elections is also characterised by a serious internal political struggle – the British are not happy with the fourteen years of Conservative Party rule. This is particularly evident in the deterioration of the health service, with patients having to wait a year or more to see a specialist.
As the Saudi newspaper Arab News noted on 1 July this year. “An exuberant Trump and a stumbling Biden in the last presidential debate did more to discredit Western democracy than Moscow, Tehran or Beijing could ever hope to do”.
The acute deficit of common sense and rationality among Western elites
The turmoil in Western societies is explained not only by the polarisation of forces in the domestic political sphere, but also by the lack of confidence of ordinary citizens in the ruling circles. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western leaders, influenced by the USSR’s achievements in the social sphere, were forced to take some account of workers’ demands, sometimes limited, but still.
In a unipolar world, the elites of the Western powers practically neglected national interests, thinking only of their own benefits, and this gap led to the current state of affairs. Attempts by these elites to divert attention from pressing problems by focusing on external threats and blaming Putin’s Russia for all their sins are failing.
The current turmoil in Western capitals is underpinned by a desire to abandon centuries-old moral values and impose new norms of gender identity and sexual orientation on the population. “Obviously,” notes Marie-Cécile Naves, director of the Gender and Geopolitics Observatory at the French Institute for International and Strategic Relations, “the proliferation of Western laws in favour of same-sex marriage and the widespread attention given to transgender people have provoked negative reactions around the world. Le Monde wrote on 29 June: “From Moscow to Dakar to Brasilia, governments are stepping up measures against LGBT+ rights, giving priority to protecting their identity from the values imposed by Western countries.
It is safe to say that the coming summer months, and especially the US elections on 5 November, will lead not only to a new division of political forces, but also to a major change in the ruling elites of the Western powers.
Vladimir MASHIN, PhD in History, political observer, especially for “New Eastern Outlook”