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Freedom is usually treated as a moral issue in German debates with the friends of liberty pitted against its foes. But it is easy to lose sight of a crucial point here: The exercise of freedom depends upon a framework of institutional and political conditions that are rapidly eroding as a new age dawns.

 »The liberal hegemon no longer has any interest in the spread of democracy and human rights.«

On a global level, the superstructure of liberal institutions, norms, and values is collapsing. The rise or recrudescence of authoritarian powers has been accompanied by a relative decline in the liberal West’s power. The United States now confronts challenges to its hegemony in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East that have overextended its military and financial capabilities. And now the Trump administration has put the liberal world order on the chopping block. It has withdrawn from multilateral institutions like the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and the World Health Organization, not to mention the Paris Climate Accord. America’s protectionist trade war marks the end of free global trade and the global rules-based, liberal economic order. By withdrawing from institutions like these, the liberal hegemon shows that it no longer has any interest in the spread of democracy and human rights. In these ways it has effectively declared obsolete the liberal world order that it created after WW II and guaranteed for decades.

The heaven of liberal values lies in ruins

Autocrats no longer have to fear sanctions when they violate fundamental liberal values. On the contrary, the Trump administration openly backs illiberal forces in Western democracies and happily cooperates with authoritarian rulers. The turn away from economic integration signifies that the central assumption of the democratic peace – that more cooperation makes conflicts among countries less likely – has been abandoned. China would like to revise the hierarchy of human rights: Liberal political rights should play second fiddle to economic and social rights. Thus, the heaven of liberal values lies in ruins.
Here, too, the utopian historical horizon has been eclipsed. You don’t have to accept the »end of history« thesis to believe that societies in the long run evolve into liberal democracies. Yet by now liberal democracies find themselves in retreat all over the world. Even within the Western democracies, liberalism is losing its hegemony. Frustrated by economic decline, endless wars, and cultural disdain, many voters have rebelled against the »liberal elites.« Meanwhile, illiberal forces have been blowing the trumpet for an attack upon liberal institutions. Even some liberals themselves, frightened by the shakiness of democracy, have seized upon illiberal instruments like bans on far-right parties and professions, as well as prohibitions against certain kinds of speech. So, in the current political climate it’s no wonder that a majority believes that it is no longer possible to permit the free expression of opinions.

»Democracy and liberalism, having formed a single unit for years, are now going their separate ways.«

Across Western societies liberal internationalists and illiberal nationalists confront each other with irreconcilable hostility. At stake are fundamentally opposed political projects. Scarcely anyone today would still claim that elections don’t make any difference. After years of stasis, levels of voter participation are once again on the rise, while the democratic principle of majority rule has retaken center stage after decades of technocratic erosion. When illiberal parties come to power, they attack the liberal elements of the constitutional order. The courts are ignored, the media and universities are intimidated, while basic liberties and minority rights are curtailed. Democracy and liberalism, having formed a single unit for years, seem to be going their separate ways.
The twofold crisis of liberalism is self-reinforcing. The collapse of the framework that once gave structure to the global order deprives national democracies of the most minimal liberal standards. Insurrectionary illiberal forces hack away at the liberal world order. The fundamental value of freedom comes under pressure. 

Freedom after the collapse of the liberal world order

The more severe the pressure on the fundamental value of freedom becomes, the more passionately it is invoked. In the United States, Vice-President J.D. Vance accuses the Europeans of limiting freedom of opinion. Anarcho-capitalists declare that the regulatory, bureaucratic state is an enemy of freedom.  Looking ahead to the future, libertarian tech oligarchs seek to run the state like a startup to allow the process of creative destruction to proceed unhindered. The post-colonial left fights for the freedom of Palestine. Neoconservatives celebrate Ukraine as the shield of European freedom. Germany is supposed to be a bulwark preventing the enemies of democracy and freedom from seizing power. Dull-witted but perpetually outraged »shit citizens« (Ulf Poschardt), Nazis, Putin’s lackeys: The enemies of freedom are always other people. 
Beyond the propaganda and virtue-signaling, we really need to reflect seriously on what freedom might mean in the wake of the collapse of the liberal world order. That is the case because these multiple attempts to curb freedom suggest a set of profound dilemmas. Climate protection activists are accused – and not unfairly – of being too quick to advocate bans. Yet unlimited consumption in a world of limited resources is structurally impossible.
By the same token, it is indisputable that white people may have racial prejudices or that males may give vent to sexist views. Yet casting a net of universal suspicion over everyone or constantly leveling moralistic accusations against others can drive them into the arms of the illiberal foes of democracy. And how can pacifists defend themselves against the charge of ignoring violations of human rights by Russia and China? Yet interfering in the internal affairs of a nuclear power can easily lead to war. The list could go on and on, but the conclusion is clear. Freedom cannot be unlimited in an interdependent world. That, too, is nothing new.  A person’s freedom always runs up against limits when it infringes upon the freedom of others.
The new element here is the threatened collapse of the framework of order that thus far has guaranteed that people could exercise their freedom, although in practice it often has functioned poorly rather than properly. At the global level, the number of liberal democracies is shrinking, while the levers that might be activated to check human rights abusers are less likely to function effectively today than they once did. Here at home, liberal constitutional norms are eroding while rights and liberties have come under pressure.

Attacking the causes of the illiberal insurrection

To escape from this vicious circle, we will have to combat the causes of this illiberal insurrection against the liberal order. That will not be accomplished by lectures, prohibitions, or social consolation prizes. Instead, the underlying economic and social problems will need to be addressed seriously. And the list of those is long. Globalization and automation have undermined the economic foundations of the working and middle classes. The increasing cost of living and the decline of entire industries stokes fears of downward social mobility. Many people feel vulnerable to the impacts of irregular migration. In the language of political science, liberal democracy today suffers from a lack of output legitimacy.

»In essence, the twofold crisis of liberalism is a declaration of intellectual bankruptcy.«

Here, the liberal establishment should take a good look in the mirror. Neoliberal enthusiasm for deregulation spawned the global financial crisis. The subsequent austerity program allowed the education, health, and defense infrastructures to deteriorate, with consequences that remain painfully evident. Liberal »grand strategists« have consciously promoted dependence on Russian energy, Chinese technology, and American security. Advocates of open borders have overtaxed the social system, thereby positively provoking the populist backlash. 
Friends of liberal democracy must make a determined effort to do their homework. Citizens will not begin to trust the liberal center again until it provides convincing answers to the great questions of the future. How can the German economic model survive without cheap energy and open export markets? Why has Chinese state-directed capitalism proven to be more dynamic than the »free market economy«?  How do we protect the climate without ruining the economy? How do we strengthen our own defense capabilities in the wake of the withdrawal of the American protective shield without sacrificing the social welfare state? And what kind of balance should be struck between immigration and tighter border controls so that the integration of migrants into German society actually succeeds?

The paralysis of the overly bureaucratic juridical state

Answers alone are not enough; they must be implemented. The reason the »authoritarian wolves« (David Brooks) are so popular is that they promise unbridled energy: break things, tidy up, then steamroll something else through. In contrast, the overly bureaucratic juridical state looks paralyzed. To this very day, the state has not identified the causes of the financial crisis or come to grips with the failures that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. For decades we have heard complaints about the crisis in education and the lack of affordable housing, but nothing ever changes. The energy transition has been stuck for so long in a thicket of regulations that renewable energy industries have decamped to China. German industry is in no position to produce enough munitions or up-to-date weapons systems, and it has fallen behind in fields like electric mobility and artificial intelligence. The paralysis affects not only the state but the entire liberal system as well.

»The creative power of the free market will be stifled by oligopoly in many sectors.«

So, in the wolf world a new relationship among the state, the market, and society is needed. As far as defense and internal security are concerned, a strong state is indispensable. The »gardener state« devoted to nurturing and caring for its citizens must assume a central role in industrial policy and in expanding critical infrastructure. Yet the creative power of the free market is stifled by oligopoly in many sectors. Therefore, the gardener state must put its hedge trimmer to work to break up monopolies and cut back rampant bureaucracy. The state must once again formulate societal missions without relapsing into patriarchal tutelage or a command economy.
In short: whoever wishes to strengthen freedom must reinforce its institutional underpinnings. And the defense of an unsatisfactory status quo will not bring that about. The only hope is to reconstruct the liberal system so it can work better in the future.