The world looked hopefully to the events of 1989. However, the euphoria of the 1990s gradually gave way to disillusionment. In his lecture, Thomas Carothers asks whether the expectations were too optimistic. What blame can be attached to the political mistakes of the West, and what lessons can be drawn from 1989?
Has liberalism become a victim of its own success? In his talk, Ivan Krastev gives some insights into the forthcoming book he co-authored with Stephen Holmes: "The Light that Failed: How the West Won the Cold War and Lost the Peace". The keynote lecture was part of the ZOiS Conference 2019 "30 Years since 1989: The Legacies of Post-Socialism", held on 14 June 2019 in Berlin.