ABSTRACT
This chapter, however, argues that the democratic order remains fragile, notwithstanding an additional lifeline thrown to it by Vladimir Putin. His war on Ukraine has met the remarkable courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, led by Volodymyr Zelensky, himself, ironically, an anti-establishment figure, but one who was elected to take his country out of autocratic corruption and toward the values of democratic society. The war has strengthened the forces of the Western democratic order, as Putin vividly demonstrates what the alternative to this is likely to involve. But while such contingencies have given it protection, the democratic order remains fragile. It will remain so, unless the structural inequalities that paved the way for contemporary populism are addressed, in the face of further challenges from fresh pandemics and climate change.
