It was the year when the east Asian economies collapsed, and Isaiah Berlin died. Well, not a causal one perhaps. But events in east Asia may call for yet another rethink of one of Sir Isaiah's great themes, the relationship between positive and negative freedom, or between democracy and liberalism.
Positive freedom means being entitled to take part in government, that is, democracy.
Negative freedom means a guaranteed sphere of personal independence - what we think of as classical liberalism. In recent times the two ideas have often been conflated. The author, Fareed Zakaria, argues that democracy is flourishing worldwide in the sense that more governments than ever before are chosen by the people whom they govern. In many parts of the world, elected governments enjoying genuinely popular support show little respect for the law or for individual freedom. Mr Zakaria cites Russia, Argentina, Iran and Ethiopia as countries where elected governments have restricted freedom and violated human rights.