ABSTRACT
The crisis in the Enlightenment project, liberalism, and subsequently Western civilisation is caused by their success rather than their failure. Success led to excesses as the advancement of humanity is measured by ever-increasing rationality and radical individualism that eventually eviscerate the culture that sustains civilisation. Western civilisation advanced due to a balance between conservativism and liberalism. The German rationalisation movement of the economy after the First World War radically altered the organisation of the state and society, which was implemented by the collective West after the Second World War. Unconstrained neo-liberalism has decimated classical conservativism to the point there is little to conserve, which gives rise to a new populist political class determined to recreate the past. Russia's response to its domestic challenges has inadvertently made Moscow tap into some very powerful undercurrents raging in the West. Russia needs to respond to new opportunities and threats in relations with the West.
