Diesen G.E. The Decay of Western Civilisation and Resurgence of Russia: Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

London — New York: Routledge, 2018. — 208 p. — (Rethinking Asia and International Relations). — ISBN 978-1-138-50032-7.What explains the rise of populist movements across the West and their affinity towards Russia? UKIP’s Brexit victory, Trump’s triumph, and the successive elections and referendums in Europe were united by a repudiation of the liberal international order. These new political forces envision the struggle to reproduce and advance Western civilisation to be fought along a patriotism — cosmopolitanism or nationalism — globalism battlefield, in which Russia becomes a partner rather than an adversary. Armed with neomodernism and geoeconomics, Russia has inadvertently taken on a central role in the decay of Western civilisation.
This book explores the cooperation and competition between Western and Russian civilisation and the rise of anti-establishment political forces both contesting the international liberal order and expressing the desire for closer relations with Russia. Diesen proposes that Western civilisation has reached a critical juncture as modern society (gesellschaft) has overwhelmed and exhausted the traditional community (gemeinschaft) and shows the causes for the decay of Western civilisation and the subsequent impact on cooperation and conflict with Russia. The author also considers whether Russia’s international conservativism is authentic and can negate the West’s decadence, or if it is merely a shrewd strategy by a rival civilisation also in decay.
This volume will be of interest to scholars of international relations, political science, security studies, international political economy, and Russian studies.Theorising civilisations
Civilisations balanced between gemeinschaft and gesellschaft
The cyclical rise, decline, and rebirth of civilisations
Rise and fall of political liberalism
Western civilisation as an amalgam of political liberalism and nationhood
The postmodernist graveyard of Western civilisation
Rise and fall of economic liberalism
The rise of Western geoeconomics as the tool for neo-gesellschaft
Unconstrained economic liberalism: death of community and society
Resurgence of Russia: neomodernism and geoeconomics
The geography of Russia’s gemeinschaft and gesellschaft
Russia’s Eurasian resurgence: neomodernism and geoeconomics
The rise of ‘populists’ in the West and their affinity towards Russia