One could have been mistaken in thinking that President Putin had hired one of Donald Trump’s speechwriters when addressing the G20 summit. In it, the Russian leader took a big swipe at the liberalist political ideology stating it has “outlived its purpose”. In this, he covered the rise of populism in Europe and America and attacked multiculturalism and Germany’s migrant policy stating “This liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected.”
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This may have some truth depending on how you interpret the figures given that German crime figures had been dropping 23 years before the migrant influx in 2015; as can be seen here
This attack on liberalist policies comes at a time when there are genuine cracks appearing in society however the Russian model can hardly be held up as a bastion of success given the relatively low standard of living for the many and the lack of civil liberties. One could argue that things have gone too far but what is the alternative? Instead of attacking it would be better if he could put forward some workable proposals.
Donald Trump must be delighted to have a new ally at least in ideological terms.
