�The West and the Rest�

The changing pulse of the world

Current Affairs Discussion Group, June 5^th 2024

Phyllis Barrantes

• The West’s assumption that economic globalization and the reduction of dire poverty would inevitably lead to the spread of liberal democratic values has proved to be wide off the mark.

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• The global geopolitical/geoeconomic situation has changed over the last decades. At one time it seemed that US dominance would hold things in place and propagate the liberal democratic model. That is no longer the case. We now live in a multipolar world.

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• Reflecting the current multipolarity, a new version of non-alignment emerged several years ago in the form of BRICS. BRICS aspires to give more voice and representation to the so-called “Global South” so countries can shape their own destinies away from the dominance of west-centric institutions. However, the “Global South” itself is far from a unified front.
• Smaller countries are now said to be like customers in a geopolitical bazaar, choosing who, when, where and what suits them best in terms of economic and social benefits regardless of democracy.

The shift away from Western values

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• So globally, “western values”, not to speak of democracy, are becoming less dominant. They are losing their shine, particularly in the face of growing problems of insecurity, economic and social difficulties, climate change, etc..

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• Disenchantment and the growing rejection of western policies leads to non-democratic alternatives, many of which even consider so-called western values to be a smokescreen for a new kind of imperialism.

• Hopes for peace and stability in the world from the western point of view used to be pinned, as to be expected, on western democratic values.

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• So the demise of western democratic values is of course somewhat alarming for the West, where they are held to be the ethically correct values; but what of the perspective of The Rest, who make up the bulk of the world population?

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• Many of the Rest have diverging value sets, different priorities, different perceptions of themselves, of the world, of their place in history, and are not convinced that western democratic values are in their best interest.

Ron Inglehart, founder of World Values Survey (https//www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp):

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• “The desire for free choice and autonomy is a universal human aspiration, but it is not top priority when people grow up feeling that survival is uncertain. As long as physical survival remains uncertain, the desire for physical and economic security tends to take higher priority than democracy.”

Quotes from “Trump’s charm offensive in the Bronx”, Dan Halpern, The Economist 1843 Magazine, May 29^th 2024:

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“…when people are scared…well, communities tend to rely on cults of personality when they feel the democratic process isn’t serving them.”

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A 22-year-old plumber: “…a lot of people my age, we look at the economy first, the job market……I consider myself a moderate, I always listen to both sides. But the economy is my big consideration, all the other stuff is second.” He may vote for Trump

Falling standards, double standards

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• The West can be said to have let the credibility of its values be downgraded by not living up to its own standards, providing autocratic regimes the ideal excuse to point to hypocrisy and double standards, particularly in regard to the defence of human rights.

• For centuries European countries chopped and changed between alliances in defence of national interests and little or no thought was given to individuals and their rights. But that supposedly changed when liberal democratic values came to the fore, nucleated around the defence of human rights.

A less humane future?

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• An article by Lily Lynch in The New Statesman suggests that the humanitarianism at the base of protection against human rights violations seems to have eroded, the interests of the state again becoming paramount, moving the world towards a less humane future.

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• What happens to our western values in the context of business conduct, immigration policies, war etc.? Very frequently, in practice the policies implemented do not align with our values.

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• Business still gets done despite all the trade embargos, blacklists and sanctions (the enabling industry, banking systems open to less scrutiny etc. all make sure of that) and human rights values don’t seem to make an indent in the push against immigrants merely seeking a better life.

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• Why do accusations of hypocrisy and double standards against the West target the defence of human rights in particular? Is it that the West has created an exclusive club with binding rules and procedures. In this context, it is no wonder that competitors for influence like China can appear a more honest partner.

Scott Burchill, Australian platform Pearls and Irritations:

• “A cosy relationship has been established between Western governments over the last 50 years. It’s analogous to an exclusive club with binding rules and procedures. If faithfully followed, club membership provides states with a range of benefits, including an international protection racket…. From time to time, protection is also extended to pro-Western friends outside the club”.
• “The result of this is two different standards of behavior: one for the West, another for the Rest.”

Disenchantment and the move away from democracy and politics in general

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• Many of the challenges to western democratic values derive from the fact that faith in governments, in institutions, in fact in politicians and political systems as a whole, seems to be rapidly fading.

• Ivan Krastev (Center for Liberal Strategies) and Leonard Benardo (Open Society Foundation): “today our relationship to the future is marked by collective distrust.…….. Democratic politics functions as a nationwide therapy session where voters are confronted with their worst nightmares—a new war, demographic collapse, economic crisis, environmental horror—but are convinced they have the power to avert the devastation.”
• So it’s a problem when people distrust their democratic government’s ability to avert such devastation; they turn to strongman figures who have no qualms about wielding non-democratic powers.

“The New Propaganda war” - Anne Applebaum, Atlantic, May 6 2024:

• “The new authoritarians have a different attitude toward reality. They play a different game and rather than replacing truth with regime-friendly lies, they aim at destroying truth itself and obliterating the human ability—or desire—to even distinguish between truths and lies. They lie constantly, blatantly, obviously”.

• “This tactic—the so-called fire hose of falsehoods—ultimately produces not outrage but nihilism. Given so many explanations, how can you know what actually happened? What if you just can’t know?...... If you don’t know what happened, you’re not likely to join a great movement for democracy, or to listen when anyone speaks about positive political change. Instead, you are not going to participate in any politics at all.”

Non-state players gaining increasing influence

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• An issue of Foreign Policy last year pinpointed another factor affecting the shift away from the exercise of democracy: the growing power of tech firms. “Nation-states are undergoing a credibility crisis, …..creating space for the world’s biggest private technology companies to play larger, more autonomous roles in global politics”.

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“The result is that power and sovereignty are diffusing away from countries and institutions towards tech firms, creating growing links between technology and geopolitics.”

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In a 28 May Guardian article this year Rajeev Syal points to yet another non-state player: “The world is entering a “polycriminal age” where cross-continental gangs use fraud, synthetic drugs, AI and child sexual abuse to generate profits bigger than the gross domestic products of nation states… multibillion-pound syndicates … destabilising countries…”

So now to the discussion….