There are no liberal empires
The expression "liberal empire" into the Russian political vocabulary, as you know, was introduced by Anatoly Chubais back in 2003. He was then a prominent representative of the Russian establishment - the chairman of the board of the RAO UES of Russia and the co -chair of the Union of Right Forces. Probably, Chubais felt the inconsistency sentiments of the new President Putin and decided to synthesize them with liberalism in his own understanding.