Liberalism’s crossroads: Battered, but not yet broken – Martin Wolf

In a world facing a democratic recession and the rise of authoritarianism, Martin Wolf says that the essence of liberalism is under siege. From the assault on core institutions to the global divide in fundamental values, the struggle for freedom is both external and internal. Even in its heartlands, liberalism confronts challenges from both the progressive left and reactionary right. As the allure of authoritarian politics looms, the defence of freedom becomes imperative, demanding resilience in the face of inevitable conflicts and difficult choices.

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Liberalism is battered but not yet broken

By Martin Wolf

Freedom is under threat in the west and elsewhere, but it must be defended

The underlying idea of democracy — that governments are accountable to the governed — is still valued in large parts of the world. How else is one to explain the fact that more than half the world's population will be voting this year? Yet the world has also been in what Stanford University's Larry Diamond calls a "democratic recession" for almost two decades. The power of autocratic China has risen. Vladimir Putin has throttled democracy in Russia. Authoritarianism is triumphing in many countries. The re-election of Donald Trump, after his attempt to overthrow the result of the last US presidential election, would also be a decisive change in the world's most influential democracy.

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