Democracy, international order and war in Ukraine

Abstract

What is democracy’s place in the shifting international order? There is a fear that an order of a more geopolitical nature will only aggravate the general crisis of democracy; or that a more plural order will dilute the efforts to defend the rules governing it. Yet, while recent political and normative trends corroborate this concern, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has to a certain extent highlighted the importance of defending democratic values throughout the world. This paper explores the impact that geopolitical tensions and the current changes in the international order are having on democracy globally. And in the context of the crisis of meaning affecting democracies, it examines whether Russia’s war in Ukraine has served both as a catalyst of the international dimensions of support for democracy and as a factor magnifying its fragility.

Keywords

• international order
• democracy
• crisis
• geopolitics
• values
• war in ukraine