Peiman Salehi – Political Analyst & Writer

By Peiman Salehi

The West still appears dominant, but it no longer knows why it acts. It is losing its sense of purpose.

At first glance, the Western order retains its military, media, and economic power. But beneath this surface lies a profound crisis — a collapse of meaning, legitimacy, and philosophical direction. We are no longer merely in a post-American world; we are living in a post-signification era.

Once the bearer of universal promises — liberty, human rights, and rationality — the Western liberal project has now revealed its deep ambivalence: violence, hypocrisy, and internal contradictions. This essay offers a civilizational and metapolitical reading of this unfolding crisis.

I. The Philosophical Decline of Western Liberalism

Liberalism, as articulated by John Locke, was founded on three fundamental rights: life, liberty, and property. But today, these ideals have become tools of imperial domination. The United States, which portrays itself as the defender of freedom, now acts in deeply illiberal ways — echoing the authoritarian patriarchy that Locke himself opposed in Robert Filmer’s writings.

Contemporary liberal discourse has been emptied of its normative content. Freedom is no longer a shared right, but a privilege contingent upon alignment with the Western model. This shift reflects a metaphysical degeneration of the liberal project itself.

II. The Civilizational Resistance of the Global South

In this crisis of meaning, the rising voices of the Global South play a crucial role. Iran, Palestine, Bolivia, and longstanding African and Asian traditions offer an alternative vision of politics — one grounded in justice, genuine sovereignty, and the primacy of life over markets.

These resistances are not merely geopolitical — they are epistemological. They raise a fundamental question: who gets to define the world? The rejection of unipolarity is not just strategic — it is civilizational. It defends a plurality of worldviews, moral frameworks, and paths to liberation.

III. Metapolitics and the Future of the World

The speed of contemporary events and the overwhelming power of modern communication have pushed politics into the metapolitical. We are no longer merely in the realm of strategy, but in a battle over meaning itself.

The future will not be decided only at ballot boxes or on battlefields, but within symbolic, cultural, and philosophical spaces. In this context, the Global South is not a marginal actor — it is a bearer of renewed meaning.

The coming world will require a rehabilitation of thought, a redefinition of politics, and an intellectual courage that only a return to the metaphysical roots of living civilizations can offer.

Conclusion

This text invites us to rethink the present moment as a turning point. The West has not only lost its supremacy — it is losing its ability to justify its actions. Faced with this void of meaning, the answer will not come from the heart of empire, but from the margins — from the peoples, traditions, and philosophies long excluded from the dominant narrative.

It is in this reborn plurality that the promise of a truly post-imperial global order resides.

Originally published in French on Dedefensa.org