If the end of the Cold War marked the defeat of communism and the rise of the United States as the world’s dominant power, can the financial crisis and end of US hegemony signal the defeat of liberal democracy and capitalism? No, but Iran’s president seems to think so. In a speech to regional leaders during a summit of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad argued capitalism is on the verge of collapse.
“After the collapse of the closed socialist economy, the capitalist economy is also on the verge of collapse,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech.
“The liberal economy and the free market have failed,” he said, pointing to the use of “thousands of billions of dollars” to bail out Western banks and companies.
Photo from Associated Press/Hasan Sarbakhshian.
