"Liberal" has a completely different meaning depending on where you come from! If you ask in an international forum you'll have to specify a bit more what precisely you want to know.

In Europe it usually refers to de-regulated financials, i.e. laissez-faire. I'm a bit hazy on what exactly it means in the USA, but judging from TV talk shows, it seems to be one step up from "communism" as far as many Americans are concerned. Being a feminist for example, is considered "liberal" in the USA, I believe.
I have no idea what liberal means to Russians if they expresion is even use there...