The West’s Revolutionary Moment: When Stability Becomes the Exception

In 1917, while Germany fought Russia in a devastating conflict, revolutionary conditions erupted within the Russian Empire, ultimately toppling the Tsarist regime and reshaping the global order. Today, we may be witnessing what I call a “reverse 1917” scenario: As Russia wages a proxy war against NATO in Ukraine, it is the Western nations themselves that appear increasingly susceptible to revolutionary upheaval, while Russia maintains relative internal stability.

This observation is not made lightly, nor from any sense of satisfaction. As always, one points out problems so they can be solved, not because one enjoys the trouble they are causing.

The most telling indicator of approaching revolutionary conditions is not economic hardship alone, but the profound disconnect between governing elites and significant portions of their populations. Across Western Europe, we observe governments that have lost the fundamental requirement of political legitimacy: The acceptance by the governed that their rulers have the right to rule.