STRATEGIC

Is the World Falling Apart (And How Would We Know)? 47
historical errors of the Communist Party. 22 University textbooks are
forbidden to use teaching materials that disseminate Western values. 23
And the government has initiated a worldwide effort to promote China’s
traditional values through Confucian Institutes, media outreach,
and online educational programs.
In Russia, Putin appeals for domestic support on the basis of
national history and traditional culture, in opposition to the asserted
corrupting effects of “Western” values. In 2014, he promoted a “Year
of Culture” that sought to assert Russia’s unique identity, its cultural
roots, values, and ethics. 24 As one recent demonstration of the polarizing
effects of a clash of values, President Obama absented himself
from the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014 because of Russia’s adoption
of laws that the United States viewed as infringing on freedom
of expression and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) people. 25 Russia, as well as China and other authoritarian
states, have expelled foreign nongovernmental organizations that
advocate human rights, electoral politics, and the strengthening of
civil society. 26
In the Middle East, the current political turmoil is driven by fundamental
conflicts over religious identity and social values, and popular
support for Sharia law challenges the secular underpinnings of
international human rights law. Authoritarian governments and hard-
22 Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, “Communiqué on the Current State of
the Ideological Sphere,” Asia Society China File translation, November 8, 2013; Benjamin
Carlson, “7 Things You Can’t Talk About in China,” Global Post, June 3, 2013.
23 Chris Buckley, “China Assails Textbooks Sowing ‘Western Values.’” New York Times,
January 31, 2015.
24 Mark Galeotti and Andrew S. Bowen, “Putin’s Empire of the Mind,” Foreign Policy, May/
June 2014.
25 The 2013 law banned “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.” The
State Department said it “effectively criminalizes public expression and assembly for anyone
who would advocate LGBT equality” while other laws against extremism were used to prosecute
religious minorities and make “offending the religious feelings of believers” a criminal
offense. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Russia
2013 Human Rights Report, Washington, D.C., 2013.
26 Asia Society China File, “The Future of NGOs in China,” May 14, 2015.