Ukraine, Elections, and the Liberal World Order Reborn
March 23, 2022
Russia’s invasion has dominated news coverage for much of the past few weeks. The conflict has been going on for about a month now, with thousands of tanks crossing the border and hundreds of missiles being launched. This disregard for a country’s basic right to sovereignty has concerned just about every nation in Europe. Because of this, those countries are now much more willing to work with the US and other organizations (such as NATO or the EU) than they have been in recent years. As one Washington Post columnist put it, “Nothing makes friends for the U.S.A. like the rumbling of Russian tanks.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also had an effect on European politics. France’s election on April 10 is beginning to look like a shoe-in for incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. A tight race last summer has given way to an 11 point polling advantage for the president. His main opponent, Marine Le Pen, lost ground after she failed to voice support for Ukraine and instead took a neutral stance. She is known to have close connections to several Russian oligarchs.
Hungary, a self-described “illiberal democracy” (whatever that is), has an increasingly likely ability to change that on April 3, when citizens will elect members to the national assembly. The United Opposition, a coalition of five opposition parties running on a unified ticket, is polling neck-and-neck with the ruling far-right Fidesz party.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, proponents of democracy, liberalism, and the free market have had little to fight against, and have often lacked a common purpose. Putin’s attack on Ukraine has served as a call to action and led to widespread unity amongst the world’s most powerful democracies. Because of this, the Journal of Democracy postulates that “the global liberal project may emerge from this darkness stronger and more invigorated than before.”
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