In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that liberalism, the dominant Western ideology for eight decades, was dead, as people turned against uncontrolled migration, multiculturalism and wokeness. “The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population,” he told the Financial Times, taking a swipe at Germany’s decision to take in a million Syrian migrants, while praising President Donald Trump’s efforts in his first term to build a wall at the U.S. southern border. He also criticized liberal governments’ embrace of “excessive” sexual and gender diversity. The Russian leader’s bold declarations were perceived at the time as fringe, regressive remarks from an authoritarian leader mired in Soviet nostalgia who was seeking to subvert the pillars of American society. Read more: https://wapo.st/434eczm