Prof. Alexander Kyosev: How Neo-Liberal Failures Empowered Putin

Alexander Kyosev, a cultural historian, professor at the Sofia University, for Deutsche Welle.

The years of economic recession and the crisis in Ukraine brought about criticism for the EU and in general the neoliberal model. A lot of the blame for this must go to the EU, for being too bureaucratic and distanced from the specific context of each country. The neoliberal values were, unfortunately, often accompanied by remnants of neocolonial behavior by the great powers.

All of this was used politically by the Russophiles in Bulgaria to create a split in society. Actually this is not a division of East and West, but of 19th versus 21st century models of thinking.

At the moment, the world is returning to the state of so-called "concert of the great powers". If the West fails to provide the appropriate reactions, the conflict with Russia could delegitimize all the principles established after WWII, such as human rights and territorial sovereignty. This would have lasting effects on the whole world. In this respect, it is important that this criticism of the neoliberal model does not get mixed up with support for Putin's realpolitik.

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