Introduction

Almost all elections and referendums in the West have become a vote on preserving liberalism. Following Brexit and the triumph of Trump, the elections in Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, and across the continent became unprecedented challenges to the so-called international liberal order that Western civilisation is purportedly built upon. Liberalism, the positioning of political and economic freedoms of the individual at the centre, is the greatest achievement and a cornerstone of Western civilisation. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to examine the decay of Western civilisation and the impact on relations with Russia. It outlines a theory on the cyclical rise and fall of civilisations through the prism of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. The book analyses the postmodernist graveyard of Western civilisation. It surveys the rise of 'populists' in the West and their affinity towards Russia.