The Deconstruction of the West
The greatest threat to the liberal international order comes not from Russia, China, or jihadist terror but from the self-induced deconstruction of Western culture.
.. the fracturing of the collective West. And yet the unraveling of the idea of the West has degraded our ability to respond with a clear strategy to protect our regional and global interests.
.. The problem confronting the West today stems not from a shortage of power, but rather from the inability to build consensus on the shared goals and interests in whose name that power ought to be applied.
.. The growing instability in the international system is not, as some argue, due to the rise of China as an aspiring global power, the resurgence of Russia as a systemic spoiler, the aspirations of Iran for regional hegemony, or the rogue despotism of a nuclear-armed North Korea
.. The West’s problem today is also not mainly the result of the economic decline of the United States or the European Union
.. Nor is the increasing global instability due to a surge in Islamic jihadism across the globe
.. At the core of the deepening dysfunction in the West is the self-induced deconstruction of Western culture and, with it, the glue that for two centuries kept Europe and the United States at the center of the international system.
.. The West prevailed then because it was confident that on balance it offered the best set of ideas, values, and principles for others to emulate.
.. It has been replaced by elite narratives substituting shame for pride and indifference to one’s own heritage for patriotism.