Serge Schmemann: Democracy under pressure
People crowd the17th June avenue during an open air street party in front of Brandenburg gate organized by German governement to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, on Nov. 9, 2014 in Berlin.
The 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November brought back memories of the optimism that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet empire. Today, however, liberal democracy appears to be in retreat. The politics of the world's premier democracy, the United States, are plagued by polarization and paralysis; in Europe, economic tensions have brought fringe parties to the forefront. Russia has returned to an autocratic model of governance; China is still ruled by a Communist Party that limits freedoms; the hopes of the Arab Spring have largely been dashed; the Islamic State group’s rise testifies to the dangerous spread of religious absolutism.
