On “Conservative Balance" and “Traditional Values”. New Ideological Antagonisms between Western Modernity and Russia

Russia in Global Affairs. 2023. No. 3. P. 24–37.

Girinsky A.

The article analyzes “traditional values” through the lens of history, philosophy, and political science in the context of the main social and political processes within Western modernity. From such a perspective, the notion of ‘traditional values’ comes as an important element of the liberal-conservative approach characteristic of Western modernity as opposed to the prevalent emancipatory approach. The history of relations between the West and Russia shows that Russia has traditionally acted as a “conservative balancer” in the system of international relations that developed in the 19th century. At the end of the 20th century, following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, radical left-liberal elites gained the upper hand in the West. The current conflict between Russia and the West reflects a reconfiguration of Western modernity, where Russia seeks to take its traditional place as a liberal-conservative center in the system of international relations. Thus, the notion of ‘traditional values’ becomes one of the components of a holistic worldview. The article offers basic intellectual and methodological tools for studying the current crisis precisely in terms of the unfolding new ideological confrontation.

Keywords: global problems of modernity, traditional values, History of International Relations, Conservatism and liberalism, critique of ideology

Publication based on the results of: Russia in the General World Order as a Problem of Intellectual Dialogue Between Russia and Europe (2023)