The Rise of Civilizational Resistance

The moral collapse of liberalism marks not only a political shift but a civilizational turning point.

By Peiman Salehi for Geopolitika.ru

Introduction: The Promise and Betrayal of Liberalism

Liberalism, once presented as the ultimate achievement of human political organization, promised freedom, dignity, and prosperity for all. Arising from the Enlightenment and championing values ​​such as individual rights, democracy, and the free market, it claimed moral superiority over all other ideologies. Yet today, we are witnessing the collapse of these promises. The liberal order has degenerated into an apparatus of domination, waging wars in the name of peace, imposing sanctions that stifle nations, and exporting a cultural nihilism disguised as "universal values."

The betrayal runs deep: the very civilization that proclaimed itself the defender of human dignity now tramples it to maintain its global hegemony.

Section 1: The Ethical Bankruptcy of Liberalism

Around the world, the moral contradictions of liberalism are being exposed. Under the banners of "human rights" and "freedom," liberal powers have launched devastating wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Sanctions regimes against Iran, Venezuela, and Syria have caused untold civilian suffering. Rather than fostering peace, liberalism has institutionalized coercion.

Internally, the liberal West is facing its own decadence. Inequality is reaching historic levels; trust in democratic institutions is plummeting. The rise of surveillance states, censorship under the guise of "controlling disinformation," and increasing social atomization all testify to a system incapable of living up to its own ideals.

Philosophically, liberalism's claim to universalism has proven to be a mask for Western particularism. Its institutions—the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank—serve not humanity, but the entrenched interests of an Atlanticist oligarchy. Through mechanisms such as loan conditions and the imposition of austerity policies, these institutions have often deepened inequality and political dependency in the Global South rather than fostering real development.

Section 2: The Rise of Civilizational Resistance

In response, a global wave of civilizational resistance has arisen. This is not simply nationalism; it is a deeper affirmation of different modes of being, of alternative ways of knowing and organizing societies.

In Iran, the Islamic Republic continues to assert an Islamic model of governance rooted in spiritual sovereignty. Russia, under the denominator of Eurasianism, asserts its orthodox and civilizational identity. China's Confucian socialism offers a synthesis of tradition and modernization outside of Western paradigms. Meanwhile, Latin America is witnessing a revival of Bolivarian solidarity, and Africa is gradually rediscovering its indigenous epistemologies.

Civilizational resistance is not a return to isolationism; it is an insistence on multipolarity—on the right of different cultures to define modernity on their own terms.

Section 3: Toward a Multipolar World

The unipolar moment is over. The emerging global order is inherently multipolar, shaped by diverse civilizational actors. Whereas liberalism sought to erase cultural particularity in favor of homogenization, the future belongs to the plurality of civilizations.

Iran's strategic partnerships with Russia and China, the expansion of the BRICS, and growing South-South cooperation illustrate that resistance is not simply defensive. It is constructive—a creative endeavor to build an alternative international system based on respect, not domination.

These civilizations, rooted in enduring spiritual and cultural traditions, possess a resilience that liberal modernity, with its ephemeral consumerist ethos, increasingly lacks.

Western liberalism, faced with demographic decline, moral exhaustion, and strategic overreach, is ill-equipped to reverse this trend. The center can no longer hold.

Conclusion: The End of Imperialism, the Birth of Civilizations

The moral collapse of liberalism marks not only a political shift but a civilizational turning point. As Western hegemony falters, the opportunity presents itself to forge a more just, diverse, and spiritual world.

Civilizational resistance is born not of hatred but of love—love of tradition, of identity, of a future where humanity is not reduced to economic units but honored as bearers of transcendent meaning.

In this new era, the Age of Empire is fading.