Decline of the West? Pros and Cons

... democratisation and modernisation of Afghanistan, as well as the retreat of democracy in a number of other countries and regions does not mean the collapse of the Western normative model. No other community has yet been able to successfully exploit the values of freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and other principles of the Enlightenment, while maintaining democracy as the main political value. The West will remain a significant value guide. China, Russia and any other power may well offer intelligible projects for their internal audiences based on patriotism and their own culture. But they will be forced to wage a constant defensive war. On the field of values, they lack the means for a ...