The possible peace in Ukraine – and in Palestine – is not that of values that rise up in the name of the weakest. Today the world belongs to the strong, to the rising powers that overshadow the declining empires. They conquer territory and power in the name of values that, being theirs, shock and depress those who yield. The alternative is for the invaded to die eternally to save values that, being theirs and legitimate, defend those who, dismayed on their sofas, want others to defend the lifestyle they feel threatened. They applaud the heroism of those who offer their flesh to the cannons; they do not realize how contradictory this thesis is to the defense of another’s life.
Trump realizes that the American empire is in decline; he spends more energy being the world’s policeman than he earns from omnipresent messianism. Foreseeing this abyss, he tells Europe to pay for its wars, or accept whatever peace there is. Perhaps unfair, perhaps even venal; but it confronts the Old Continent with its own reality: either it issues debt to arm Ukraine, or it eliminates debt ceilings. Since there is no consensus, it is now being considered to eliminate the veto and decide by majority vote; which deserves the counter-warning of countries like Hungary or Belgium: on this path, they will not comply with the decision.
Trump realizes that the American empire is in decline; he spends more energy being the world’s policeman than he earns from omnipresent messianism.
The European Union implodes. Russian GDP grows 1%; far from China’s 5%, but ten times more than Germany’s. Beyond the strategic vision – or lack thereof – and the (in)efficiency in execution; crisis management shows the advantages of leadership and authority. Which exists in Russia, China, and the United States… whether one agrees – or not – with these regimes; very different from each other. In the West, there is talk of revenge by the radical right; But it’s much deeper than that: this is merely the model that emerges from the decline of liberal democracies. Let’s not confuse Russia and China with the far right…
It’s necessary to confront the European electorate with the history of fascism and colonialism; whether political leadership and economic efficiency truly imply nationalist and protectionist dictatorships. These models also imploded – and rightly so – because they fueled wars and mistreated the people. As Churchill said, democracy is only the worst of all systems, except all the others; and there has never been a more just and distributive model than the welfare state of liberal democracies. It is failing; and leaders capable of reinventing themselves are fading. This is the rocky road: to rediscover a horizon of light… because at the end of the tunnel lies the return to the illusion of darkness.
*General Director of PLATAFORMA
