2022

Everything has been said about the agony of the year 2021. The expectations for 2022 leave little room for improvement. The worldwide disarticulation is further exasperated by a pandemic which escapes any form of remote control. 

The normal exasperation might lead to dangerous political derailments. The combination of economical selfishness, the de facto rule of cartels, the panic within governments and inflation are creating a perverse vortex of opposites. Yesterday's structures are no longer able to contain the rise of disaffection of the despondent.

On all sides there is no moral or prescient leadership. It is interesting to observe how, here and there, contemporary literature reflects this Spengler's "decline of the West" prophecy. This pessimistic tidal wave which originated in Europe has now taken hold of the American psyche as well. It is becoming impossible to read the mindset of people at a time when the smallest whisper becomes loaded like a pistol. The overall turmoil allows the darker forces to implement their most morbid fantasies.

If Covid comes up with yet another Omicron variant, 2022 might be the year of the great miscalculation. Soft-power will be overwhelmed. Hard-power might feel unbound.  The century of the "dupe" could lie ahead.

The Russian and American presidents inaugurated the year's end by talking again, no doubt mostly about Ukraine, while nobody doubts the outcome. Certain situations like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Hong Kong have lost their dramatic appeal because of their reduction to CNN material, where the anchor gets more credit than a president. The latter gets the communique, the former gets the drama. 

Next year might be worse...climate change will be incremental, Corona will mutate yet again, large business will strive while small enterprise may become a thing of the past, democracies will suffer.  China will hide its own structural shortcomings behind Xi's ornate façade of cement. Closer to home, the little man will be the loser, unable to cope with the new economy, immigration and rising energy prices. 

The East excelled in playing hard to get. The West performed as long as it had customers. It looks as if the customers have left the room.

One thing is certain, our hospital beds might be "Made in China". 2022 will be the Year of the Water Tiger, beware!

DESMOND TUTU

Like Mandela the bishop with the confident smile was stronger than the weaponized Apartheid tugs. Like Mandela he proved to be stronger than all the forces of evil combined.

Thanks to his actions all humans with a claim and a heart were able to invest in hope.

BELGISCH SCENARIO

Velen stelden hun vertrouwen het leiderschap van Eerste Minister De Croo. In èèn nacht heeft hij zijn krediet grotendeels verspeeld. Het overlegcomite was een trieste vertoning en de voorgestelde betwistbare besluiten overtuigden niemand. De kernuitstap is zoals de processie in Echternach, ongenietbaar en absurd. De Kulturkampf kan beginnen.

Dat minister Frank Vandenbroeke dit liet gebeuren grenst aan het onwaarschijnlijke.

Het begint aan te voelen als een crisis in the making. N-VA en PS wachten op hun beurt om een gerrymandering op zijn Belgisch  af te dwingen, die hun mopolistische overmacht in de deelstaten onvermijdelijk maakt.

LE CHOIX DU MOULES FRITES .

Le gouvernement vient de confirmer urbi et orbi que le ridicule ne tue pas.

Il a décidé une "sortie" (ignomineuse) du nucléaire ainsi qu'un ensemble de mesures incohérentes en vue de faire face à la pandémie . 

Ce doublé gouvernemental qui ferme le secteur culturel fait ainsi le choix de privilégier le court terme plutôt que la raison. L'horeca pavoise et la civilisation encaisse.

Ce Xème compromis à la belge encouragera une nouvelle fois les créateurs et amateurs de prendre le chemin de l'ailleurs .

Que le Premier Ministre et d'autres dans le gouvernemet (Verts exclus) aient permis cette farce est un nouveau saut dans l'absurde. Ils risquent de devoir payer l' ardoise.

LA MALEDICTION DE LA VESDRE

Le défilé permanent d'images de Pepinster, Trooz, Verviers et d'autres sites sinistrés après les inondations de Juillet est triste. RTL qui est spécialiste du misérablisme se surpasse en commentaires compasssés et analyses d'un autre àge. Les sinistrés et notables apparaissent hagards et se sentent  oubliés. Les responsables politiques tournent en rond , à l'étroit dans leur "parlement" à Namur.

Depuis des mois rien ne semble avoir bougé. Des interventions aussi sporadiques que lamentables ne parviennent pas à occulter les drames personnels et l'incompétence des autorités régionales.

Ce n'est pas encore un moment Zola mais le J'accuse suivra. Le réamégagement du territoire et la réflexion sur une réconvesion sont absents du discours qui dépasse l' Excellence de niveau d'une sous-préfecture. Déja on recycle les briques et les sites, sans aucun effort en vue de balayer une fois pour toutes l'héritage historique maudit qui survit un  peu partout en Wallonie. Il eut fallu recourir à un concours d'idées international mais on hésite à le faire pour ne pas trop gèner le parti socialiste qui porte une lourde responsabilité dans la dégradation structurelle d'un environnement maudit. Ouvrir la Wallonie à  la modernité conduirait inéluctablement à une révision politique, défavorable au PS qui, dans ces conditions, préfère l'assistance à l'imagination.

Pourtant le parti socialiste a en la personne du Sécretaire d'Etat fédéral Thomas Dermine une personnalité de premier plan, ouvert a l'innovation. Il serait l'interlocuteur idéal pour convaincre les récalcitrants Il devrait être le porte-parole d'un concept qui puisse étonner la Belgique et l'UE. 

Une nouvelle fois le besoin de refédéraliser certaines compétences doit être condidéré. Que le PS en Wallonie et le Vlaams Belang et le N-VA en Flandre s'y opposent est normal mais de minimis non curat praetor .

NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT (Richard III I,I,I)

The East is the land of the rising sun, indeed. The West feels like a sinking fleet of ships awry, yesterday's Armada reduced to a bygone. The speed of the reversal of fortunes is shocking.

President Xi mused over the West in almost philosophical terms. Indeed, can a concept which implodes still claim an identity? America no longer holds itself together. President Biden looks sometimes like King Lear, still formidable in theory but diminished in the daylight. Europeans return to the attic where yesterday's lethal instincts were stored. Churchill said that a nation who forgets its past has no future, but this might be corrected as a nation that forgets to learn from its past errors.

It is hard to foresee what Putin will do regarding the Ukraine. To a point it is becoming indifferent since Kiev stands alone and since nobody will lift a finger if Russia decides to make a move. The sanctions will not deter. They might even amuse.

The East looks on.  A number of Western countries will snub the Winter Olympic Games... just enough to let their athletes participate, while China is certain to embarrass the chorus line of the USA & Co by spectacular organization  and medals. Contrary to Russia, China acts in largely its own star system. It adheres to its imperial past but makes sure that some more inclusive episodes are erased. The many historians who came up after Mao had to make room for the historical codex of President Xi. The Chinese leadership is fierce in  the pursuit of power internally and influence wherever it is perceived as being in its interest. Through a sophisticated strategy conducted by superb performers it has infiltrated finance, the arts, technology, giving it an edge both in soft- and hard-power.

The pandemic has only laid bare the dysfunctions in the West. Not only is the response uneven, it looks as if the disease could spread to the minds and souls. It might sound exaggerated but one should not exclude that the incoherent responses might ultimately lead to extreme destabilization, civil unrest and war. The diaspora of nation states, the EU requiem in Brussels, the NATO blues, the American emergency, are creating the perfect storm. Putin can stir it, Xi can sip it.

The West fights on all fronts. Climate change erodes the land. Conspiracy realtors poison the minds. Democratic institutions fail citizens who are dazed by fake news  and the rise of a hybrid mindset which risks entering into to a fraudulent algorithm. No wonder the suitors are looking elsewhere!

THE WINTER OLYMPICS

Some countries, i.a. the USA, the UK and Australia have decided a diplomaic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China.

While President Xi is hard to love, the Olympics should not again be penalized for extraneous events. The measure looks ludicrous. It will only result in making the enactors look small. 

President Macron decided not to be part of this petty decision which will boomerang again as other previous dubious initiatives have. The Chinese are impervious to bluff. Participants and athletes might take note that if some leaders are debatable, others may be foolish.

ALEXANDER DE CROO'S LIJDENSWEG

Het laatste Overelegcomite was beschamend en onwaardig. De teleurgang is te wijten aan de enge, verkrompen Heimat politieke DNA van Jan Jambon & Co.

De Eerste Minister moet zich toch de vraag stellen hoe hij verantwoordelijk verder kan met een onberekenbare N-VA in de oppositie en de pathologische Groenen in zijn regering. Alexander De Croo begint een kapitaal van respect op te bouwen in het buitenland. In Belgie (versie RTL) moet  hij al zijn energie spenderen om nog proberen de controle te behouden op een permanente ontsporing. Het ziet er naar uit dat hij de Corona spelletjes ansichtloss begint te vinden.

Het verlies van levens en de druk op de verzorgingssector verdienen toch meer aandacht dan de "slachtoffers" van het  trietste belgisch nachtleven en horeca. De kinderen worden gebruikt als munitie...De kibbelende, niets voorstellende ministers-saboteurs in de regios moeten eens stage lopen bij Frank Vandenbroecke, grote mijnheer, of, beter, in het buitenland.

Dit laatste is waarschijnlijks te veel gevraagd aan kleine mensen, die buiten hun grenzen alleen maar zouden worden geconfronteerd met hun eigen onbenulligheid.

LE MONDE EN MARCHE ARRIERE

Cette fin de parcours de 2021  n'est pas réussie. Tout a été dit sur le COVID sans que rien ne soit apparu qui puisse justifier un optimime relatif. Ce mal qui court échappe toujours à toute forme de résolution qualitative. Sur fond de pandémie d'autres situations alarmantes s'additionnent.

L'état du monde retourne à la case départ du 20ème siècle. La Russie semble vouloir activer son Anschluss Ukrainien.  La Bosnie retourne à ses anciens démons. L'Union Européenne est traversée par des arrangements à deux ou a plusieurs, qui ont tiré la leçon du Brexit, dont on ne dira jamais assez combien les conséquences néfastes s'accumulent. Restent des présages inquiètants : Certains discours français rappelent Vichy, l'Allemagne post Merkel est une énigme. Enfin, le dialogue entre Moscou et Washington est désormais un dialogue de sourds. 

Tout cela conduit à un regroupement opportuniste au bénéfice de la Chine qui observe et enregistre.

En réalité la crédibilité de l'engagement américain est devenue aléatoire. Partout elle est testée, nulle part elle apparait au dessus de tout soupçon. Si Obama avait réussi - imparfaitement- à redorer le blason, son succésseur a fini par rendre les Etats Unis infréquentables. Les meilleures intentions du président Biden n'arrivent pas à corriger l'image d'une puissance colossale certes mais en perte de vitesse. Or sans la valeur ajouée et admise américaine, l'Europe  n'est plus qu'un archipel de quoi ? 

Poutine se réfère souvent à l'encerlement de la Russie par un OTAN démonisé. Or il ne fait pas de doute que s'il décide de se réapproprier l'Ukraine, l'OTAN  ne bougera pas. Comme Hitler manipulait le dossier Sudète, Poutine peut récupérer Kiev sous couverture de l'histoire. Il a fallu des annees pour négocier l'accord d'Helsinki avec l'Union Soviétique . L'invasion de la Crimée est passée comme une lettre à la poste, renvoyant Helsinki au guichet des objets perdus. 

2022 s'annonce mal. Il est clair que le système démocratique est remis en question. Nier qu'il existe désormais un courant d'idées en Europe occidentale (et ailleurs) en faveur d'une autocratie light est naif. Les gouvernements de coalition qui prévalent en Occident renvoient trop souvent à des situations de 4é-ème république française pour convaincre, vour mème pour rassembler péniblement. L'ennemi est désormais à domicile.

Le scénario Covid / Omikron s'inspire apparemment du contexte géo-politique "divided we fall " .

COVID LAMENT

Covid feels like having arrived at a breaking point. The historical contrat social is breaking down.  Since democracy is ailing, the crisis management can no longer contain the fractures that are coming into the open. The flashpoints in the West torch civility and accountability. 

Governments are trying to extinguish the advance of the brushfire which starts to engulf norms that were previously accepted. The advancing wave of unanswerable lies is becoming unstoppable.  Fake news and QAnon trivia are starting to create a tidal wave which is an ominous threat to democracy.

The civil war which sets vaccinated against non-vaccinated is another indication of the loss of political and moral persuasion of governments.  Besides that, the faulty distribution of vaccinations worldwide is in itself an existential, almost genocidal scandal.

Various political precursers acted as conductors for this catastrophic Untergang.. The Trump years killed the American saga. Brexit reduced the United Kingdom to yet another costume drama, in which the British hide their irrelevance. The EU invited the enemy within and is stuck with Eastern  European squatters. 

It is remarkable that this unfolding drama has not yet created the story line of the likes of Thomas Mann, Gabriel Marquez or Richard Ford, who dissected the diseased environment around them with an unspairing lucidity. One has to face the music and see the rot. Governments are too timid, the lifespan of the lie is too long and the antivaxers need to be called for what they are:  a looming death threat.

The macro consequences of COVID do not receive the emergency attention they need. The difficult socio-economic, military, migratory and cultural tides may as well coalesce with the accelerating climate doom. The temptation exists to try to put competing priorities in separate cubicles, but we cannot ignore the law of interdependence. All existing arrangements fell victim to the end of globalisation. It is tempting to argue that all was better then but such nostalgia is perverse. The uneven strategy regarding today's ailments has to be corrected. The unacceptable tensions in our societies regarding the pandemic cannot be allowed to mute in a cultural/civil war.  If a difference of opinion leads to more deaths and a collapse of the system (and of the medics and care-givers who risk a burnout) the nay-sayers have to give in. Ebola or AIDS taught us that in emergency there is no "there" but only a "here".

BELGIQUE : LE RIDICULE NE TUE PAS

 En résumé :

La Belgique compte 4  Ministres qui se partagent une reponsabilité pour le climat, 9  Ministres se partageant le gateau Santé. Il y a un Ministre - président Wallon, un Bruxellois et un autre pour la Fédération Bruxelles - Wallonie (?) , sans compter les maires qui se partagent les morceaux à Bruxelles...

Malgré tout ça la Belgique était nue à Glasgow et a sorti  un nouveau train de mesures mesquines pour faire face à la quatrième vague Covid. Quand les Autorités sont trop timorées pour intervenir dans de grands évènements récents (Gand, Liège), l'ardoise, pourtant attendue, devient lourde à porter.

Le Premier Ministre fait ce qu'il peut mais il est l'otage des régions et des considérations de sous-préfecture.

On lit partout que rien ne va plus, si ce n'est la répétition de ce qui ne fonctionne pas. D'aucuns préconisent que le pays adopte le modèle suisse. C'est oublier qu'il s'agit là d'une situation qui trouve ses lettres de noblesse dans l'histoire. Qui plus est, un mariage à plusieurs est plus facile à gérer qu'une union à deux (sans compter les ¨petits¨ admis à la table des ¨grands¨). Si l'on voulait privilégier une légitimité historique de rechange on pourrait reconsidérer et révaloriser la fonction des provinces.

Il faut éviter que les politiques n'imposent une nouvelle fois leurs aberrations sans l'aval démocratique. De toute façon il est plus que probable qu'il n'y aurait pas de majorité incontournable pour quoi que se soit. Imposer le confédéralime avec 55% des voix n'est pas un choix mais un vol.

Le mal est fait. Reste à en atténuer les conséquences déstabilisatrices. Le système existant doit essayer de se débarasser du mauvais cholestérol qui risque à terme de bloquer son fonctionnement ou mieux, ce qu'il en reste. Cela provoquerait evidemment le départ forcé d'Excellences dont on avait de toute façon oublié qu'elles étaient la. Le Comité de concertation ne fait plus recette. Le spectacle du Premier Ministre, flanqué de deux régicides, rappele plus Bacon que Velasquez.  Navrant.

GLASGOW : GUESS WHO WAS COMING FOR DINNER ?

The climate conference in Glasgow was more a sleeper than a bang. The result was the one all wanted to avoid: "climate fatigue". Everything happened as to erase any form of drama, breakthrough or renewed enthusiasm. The paricipants looked and sounded as if they felt that the ground floor of the house they live in was already under water. The air of fatalism inside was marked by the luke despair in the streets outside. Glasgow was the perfect setting for the overall gloomy atmosphere. Only Alok Sharma, the president of the conference, looked (sadly) alive in this disappoiting non-event.

Nevertheless one should beware of disregarding the frustrating pace of the climate talks altogether. Countries can no longer skip the issue and the smallest step foward is one win over the menacing tides, which can still be slowed down if not reversed. It would be too cynical to talk about the legacy for the next generation, while their fate is already pre-ordained.

Still there was one surprise. China and the United States, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, arrived at some form of agreement to reduce the fossile fuels which dominate their respective energy mixes. This menage-a-deux took the uninvited by surprise and is another proof of America's comeback after the harsh winter of Trump's mishmash. 

A new meeting will be convened in Cairo.  Let's hope that the scorpions which appeared in Egypt's capital this week, following an outburst of yet another freaky weather pattern, will stay in their quarters. Greta and friends might find the freedom of expression there more hard to come by than in the dreary streets of Glasgow. No doubt  President Al Sisi will find a way to truncate their noise.

HET HERFTSTTIJ VAN BELGIE VANDAAG.

De onaantrekijke Vlaamse regering stapelt sabotage en onredelijkheid op. Deze hybriede troep is niet langer te harden. De onderwijsstrategie is een fiasco, het klimaat wordt een "lucha libre" en de internationale geloofwaardigheid van de Heimat nostalgie ligt onder het nul punt. Normaal dat Bart Van Loo, David Van Reybroek , Luc Tuymans § Co. zich distancieren van die ploeg van verliezers. Bart De Wever die toch een brillant politicus is laat die "loosers" begaan terwijl ze elkaar in de haren zitten zoals in een Tarantino bis, voor minder begaafden. Vlaams belang laat zijn primaire ideologie (?) niet varen en behoudt de controle over zijn fascistisch radicaal anti-Belgisch agenda.

De federale regering zit opgescheept met de Ecolo/Groen kater. De Groenen gedragen zich als een verzameling nihilisten die, bewust of niet, een sabotage strategie voorstellen die berust op onverantwoorde vooropstellingen. De volgende verkiezingen zullen Groen bijna zeker afstraffen. De verkeerschaos, de prijs van de energie, de dolle fietsers, gaan zwaarder doorwegen dan de idyllische kern uitstap Disney verhaaltjes, die ondertussen achterhaald zijn.

Naar 2024 toe zijn alle partijen druk bezig met een ¨face lift¨. Vooral Vooruit moet klare taal spreken. De Katholieke zuil heeft geen bestaansreden meer. De  Liberalen zitten tussen twee stoelen, een pragmatische Vlaamse vleugel en een ideologische Franstalige sterke tegenpool. De Waalse Socialisten hebben een overtuigende leader maar hebben het moeilijk om hun reputatie van omkoopbaarheid kwijt te spelen. De Waalse water katastofe en opvolging hebben dit slecht imago alleen maar scherper in de kijker gesteld.

De regering De Croo zal het hard te verduren hebben met opposities die hun verlies aan geloofwaardigheid zullen proberen te verbergen achter een permanente loopgraaf strategie. De nood aan een federale kieskring en sectoriele herfederalisering begint de gesprekken te overheersen. Het taboe is voorbijgestreefd en ¨meer Belgie" is niet langer onbespreekbaar. De unitaire staat van gisteren behoort tot het verleden, maar een afslanking van het verwerpelijk hedendaags model komt zeker op het agenda.

In 2030 is Belgie 200 jaar oud. Normaal wordt uitgekeken naar initatieven om deze verjaardag in de verf te zetten. Dit zou best worden gedaan via voorstellen voor stedelijke herordening en urbanisatie (Brussel), voor een gestroomlijnde opvang van migranten en voor unitair optreden ivm.dossiers die iedereen aanbelangen (handel, gezondheid, economie, klimaat,onderwijs enzv.). Vooraleer te beginnen overwegen grandioze projecten neer te ztten noeten bestaande toestanden  eerst worden hersteld en onderhouden. Europa verdient een beter welkom dan de walgelijke treinstations Noord en Zuid stations (een schande). De Musea, gebouwen en wegdek (o.m. Paleis, Place Royale) worden onwaardig voor elemetair zelf respect.  Staatssecretaris Dermine heeft daar waarschijnlijk een pertinente visie over.

Belgie is te dikwijls als de Rode duivels, een stel brillante individuen die te zeldzaam samen spelen....Quod erat demonstrandun.

 

POUR QUI SONNE LE GLAS(GOW) ?

La  réunion sur le réchauffement climatique se traine. L'enthousiasme de Paris a fait long feu. A Glasgow les participants semblent épuisés .Mème la croisade de Greta § Co. finit par lasser tout le monde. Pourtant l'enjeu reste colossal. Il en va de la survie des personnes comme des territoires . Les ambitions restent sans doute sincères mais leur traduction dans des mesures fiables, voir contraignantes , reste aléatoire.

Glasgow est sinistre. Le choix du lieu peut sembler un argument frivole mais pour des réunions qui se prolongent le site peut exercer une influence positive ou néfaste. La conférence souffre de se trouver otage d'un environnement peu amène. 

Les leaders ont tenu les propos attendus, sachant fort bien qu'un engagement sans sanction peut devenir un voeu pieu. Pourtant il est indéniable qu'il existe une volonté partagée pour essayer de freiner la descente du monde aux enfers. Chinois et Russes boudent mais nul doute qu'ils sont également conscients de leur responsabilite, pour autant qu'elle ne se mette pas au travers de leur ambition économique. D'autres participants comme l'Inde ou l'Indonésie partagent cette préoccupation légitime.

Le Premier Ministre Belge était comme Daniel dans la cage aux Lions, essayant de faire bonne figure, tandis que les régions à domicile ( le climat en Belgiue est une responsabilité régionale...on croit rever !) essayent toujours a se mettre d'accord sur des mesures agrées. Le dossier climat devrait revenir à l' UE, quitte a incorporer dans une poltique globale en aval des considérations spécifiques en amont.

Le réchauffement climatique est aussi un enjeu existentiel, comme le COVID. Il n'est pas admissible qu'une "lutte de classes" interfère avec un enjeu qui est global. La mort ou les catastrophes naturelles  ne sauraient suivre la piste du crédit selon que l'on soit pauvre ou riche. Les iles condamnées d'avance dans des océans lointains méritent la mème attention que Miami. 

Encore les pays nantis devront- ils changer et corriger des dépenses et des habitudes s'ils veulent rééllement tenir parole. Pour cela une vaste opération de motivation est nécessaire, sans quoi les mavaises habitudes risquent de ratrapper les bonnes intentions. L'escapade en Jet privé de Boris Johnson était tout à fait inopportune. Heureusement il restera l'adieu Macron  / Merkel pour illustrer que la "classe" reste présente. 

Glasgow a permis aux Etats Unis de rejoindre le club civilisé dont Trump, amateur d'énergies fossiles, avait claqué la porte. Il est permis d'espérer que ce reour ne soit pas une nouvelle fois remis en question en 2024, année de tous les dangers pour l'Amérique.

THE G20 IN ROME

The G20 of the old days is no longer. The accepted world view then felt like a  necessary recipe to overcome the many discrepeancies which set the "have lots" apart from the the "have nots". The format worked for a while but when the tensions and opposite interests started to supercede modest common goals, the G20 lost both appeal and relevance.

Like-minded countries rebelled, major players stayed home and invited guests became bystanders for a pathetic photo-op. The UK is at loggerheads with France, which is still sulking after what it perceives as the American treason...and one can go on. India, Indonesia and even the Saudis ask themselves what they are still doing there, other than tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain. This sad cortege is now on its way to Glasgow for another climate Utopia.

True, the G20 was almost DOA after it was upset by Trump who hated gatherings where he was supposed to act considered. It is clear that the bona fide members might think that the Biden presidency will not stem or correct the tide of evil that is drowning America in some form of civil war, with unpredictable circumstances. The world might be relieved that a relative calm has returned, but doubts its sustainability. 

Biden has a grandfatherly problem which unfairly overshadows the better ideas he brings to the forefront. Leaders have faith in him (despite the French pique) but  they worry about investing capital in promises that might become obsolete in 2024. In any event, they might have to come to terms with their own home-grown demons in the very near future. The democracies which did shine in the early days of the G20 are ailing now.  Where lies the credibility of a promise if China is no party to it?

So the Rome show was stolen by the Pope, Prince Charles and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who spoke out as only the free, unhindered by a perverse calculus, can. It is ironic that the representatives of a bygone world were the ones who dared to unmask the reigning algorithm .

Belgie zendt zijn zonen uit

 Koning Filip in Denemarken : no comment.

 Jan Jambon in Dubai : geen biomass maar bodymass.

Wallonie blijft Wallonie ... overal.

 Plus ca change.....

MARK ELCHARDUS

De bijdrage van professor Elchardus in De Morgen (23 / 10/ 21) komt hard aan. Zijn commentaar o.m. over klimaat is pertinent, helaas. De Belgische klimaatopvolging opvolging  moet  bij "spoedgevallen" worden ingecheckt, zeker als men nog wil vermijden dat de patient de geest geeft ( le ridicule tue).

Of Belgie daarbij internationaal opnieuw aan de diepten anno Dutroux  raakt is toch een overdreven, onrechtvaardige stelling. Toegegeven, het imago van Belgie ligt sinds 1960 dikwijls verkeerd in het buitenland. Het land zit klem in een hybridisch korset waarover het zich trouwens nooit rechtstreeks heeft mogen uitspreken. Er is geen federale kieskring, zodat er geen sprake is van een geloofwaardige beheersformule waarin plaats is voor rekenschap erga omnes. De Gemeeenschap dwergen hebben een pass gekregen die hun te ruime bevoegdheden in de handen speelt, zonder sanctie. Andersom was Wallonie na de watersnood weggestemd.

Nu moeten de dwergen in zoveel regeringen een standpunt bepalen voor de klimaat top in Glasgow....Het is inderdaad een trieste vertoning ! Het verdriet van Belgie opgevoerd voor een volle zaal. Jacques Brel had het over la valse a mille temps, onze politici spelen dokter Frankenstein met een monster a plusieurs temps.

Toch is de beoordeling van Prof, Elchardus vandaag ergens onrechtvaardig . De diagnose is correct maar de patient verdient behandeling. De Vivaldi regering is geen droom team, verre van. Toch zijn er ministers die niet oninteressant zijn en is Alexander De Croo er in geslaagd nieuwe accenten te leggen. De verwachte zoveelste staatshervorming moet het onmogelijke proberen te bereiken, met name een sectoriele herfederalisering, terwijl de patient onder narcose is. Omdat zo een ingreep  politieke levens zal kosten zal de ingreep vragen om geraffineerd vakmanschap.

De Croo is er in geslaagd Belgie een beginnende internationale face lift te geven. Hij moet het nu properen thuis te herdoen. Dat wordt een heuse klus. Een andere klimaatflop kan alles weer op de helling zetten : CO2 > laag IQ.

ALEXANDER DE CROO EST-IL ZEN ?

Après un an les Belges découvrent leur Premer Ministre. Calme, poli, présent il s'est imposé devenant la personnalite la plus appréciee du pays ( à peine devancé par Sophie Wilmes dans le Sud).

Le P.M. avance intelligemment tant a l'interieur qu'à l'extérieur. En Belgique il a réussi avec subtilté à remettre les régions a leur place ainsi qu'à privilégier un discours macro politique. De récents évènements en Wallonie et en Flandre ont sérieusement jetté le doute sur le modèle politique existant et sur ses défenseurs, pris en flagrant délit de fuites morale et intellectuelle.

Du coté flamand, plusieurs intellectuels et artistes plaident aujourd'hui en faveur d'une reprise en main d'enjeux devenus mondiaux, et demandent que l'on mette fin au gaspillage de pouvoirs et d'excellences qui mérient d'etre relegues dans les cales sèches de l'histoire. Si le ridicule tuait, la Belgique deviendrait une hécatombe.

Alexander De Croo représente manifestement une nouvelle génération plus informee et cosmopolite. Ses reflexes politiques trouvent des lors leur légitimité dans une perception transfrontaliere et à travers le spectre d' une intelligence contemporaine. Contrairement a ses prédecesseurs il entend ne pas etre l'otage d'une systeme mafieux existant et d'une gouvernance en miettes, qui est largement responsable du désastre Wallon. 

Le P.M. semble vouloir  aérer et alléger le modèle belge si durement accusé par W.S. Sebald. Ce Liberal sait s'entendre avec le socialiste Thomas Dermine parce que l'un et l'autre veulent faire avancer les choses. Le rebond de Charleroi ne diffère pas du rebond belge. D'autres Ministres ( Finances, Intérieur, Santé, Justice, Affaires etrangères)  sont interessants.

Ecolo dénote. Les Verts sont devenus "programmés" et leurs adhérents ont souvent des comportements de  ¨nouveaux terroristes¨.

Le P.M. doit avancer à pas de loup. Il est des situations ou il vaut mieux faire ce qui se cache derriere les mots que de sortir le message de l'enveloppe. Comme il semble bien s'entendre avec Angela Merkel, il est à bonne école.

Il faut souhaiter qu'il puisse rester Zen. Le Kabuki dans lequel d'aucuns veulent l'entrainer est trop risqué.

"Turn a crisis into an opportunity' turn a dead end into a new path¨ (Maitre Zen).

ANGELA MERKEL

Born in the DDR (the former East Germany), educated under Bach's spell, chosen by Helmut Kohl, she quitely invaded the EU's foreign and financial policies to such an extent that the will of Berlin became law. Her unabated trust in the Franco-German co-leadership role in Europe was responsible for years of progress on all fronts. Lately the rise of maverick leaders in mostly Hungary and Poland put a dent in the EU machinery.

Without restarting an Ostpolitik she was still the only European leader who could talk business with Putin...in Russian. This granite chancellor led the opposition of most Europeans to Trump by the sheer force of her contempt. She never relied on theatrics to win over the opposition at home or abroad.  She just stared it down.

Lately she found in the French president an ally who, contrary to some of his predecessors, had no problem in letting Gemamy lead. 

If her party, without her leadership, lost the last elections, the galant victory of the opposition stays in sharp contast with the histrionics in London. Germany became a blueprint for democratic governance.

She took risks (refugees, Nordstream 2 gas pipe line with Russia ) but even those who had misgivings were proven wrong or uninformed. She resisted moves to translate Germany's weight in military might. Probably she remained still over- conscious of history to be tempted by former aberrations.

The new chancellor will probably be Olaf Scholtz, a Social Democrat, but the world will not notice a major change in policies. Angela Merkel's style is embedded in Germany's psyche for the years ahead. It is important that the center hold, while the UK choses noise over substance and France enters the troubled pre-presidential election waters. If pre-Merkel equals post-Merkel, the same cannot be said about France. Emmanuel Macron is a formidable president but a very isolated one. It remains to be seen if he can re-galvanize his supporters as before. Even in his own ranks a Ballo in Maschera scenario cannot be excluded.

The European pendulum veered eastwards under Merkel. The EU machinery caught a bad cold. If it doesn't act against the Visegrad "oilspill", Germany might as well force its hand. The dwarfs in Brussels had better act fast before Berlin obliges it to do so.

Since the historic embrace between de Gaulle and Adenhauer, the road has often  been a difficult one. Let's not forget that President Mitterand had a difficult time agreeing with Germany's reunification. Human frailties can derail better intentions, as Brexit made perfectly clear. Prime Minister David Caneron will be judged in history books.  Angela Merkel will be lauded. Her inheritance should never be allowed to fall into the hands of fools.  It is safe...for now!

STROMAE

 ....pertinent !

TAIWAN

The world is edgy, because of China's President Xi's statements regarding Taiwan.

The island has been a Japanese colony, Chinese province and now the seat of a rival government. Beijing considers it as an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China.

Chiang Kai-shek, defeated in the civil war on the mainland, moved functionaries, troops, gold reserves and arts treasures to Taiwan.  Regularly, the Chinese tested Taiwan's resolve, i.a. by bombarding Quemoy and Matsu, which are not covered by the mutual defense treaty between the US and Taiwan (1954). Ensuing Straits crises tested both the US commitment, Taiwan's nerves and China's intentions. Taiwan followed a rather pragmatic route, exploring economic links and direct contacts with the mainland. Lately a freeze set in, afterTaiwan became more democratic and less Kuomintang.

Since President Nixon, Washington recognized 'one China', of which Taiwan is a part. It was also made clear that the future of Taiwan would be settled peacefully.

Taiwan has become a democratic powerhouse since and a shadow model pluralism. Beijing resents this "South Korea bis" on its doorsteps.  Some conclude hastily that China's patience might run dry since they consider Taiwan theirs.

In the Hall of Union in the Forbidden City figure the two characters "Wu Wei" (abstain from action), sumarizing the Taoist political ideal: the heavenly mandate can only be maintained if there is an avoidance of disturbance.

The Tienanmen drama was more the result of a bruised Chinese ego, for all the world to see, than of real political determination. When a Chinese risks losing face, his or her actions can become unpredictable and vicious.

The Americans have until now been able to manage the "waves" in the Straits by sophisticated diplomacy and the 7th Fleet.  Lately, American presidents have however been more noticable for their faux pas than for their skills. Trump's histrionics during President Xi's stay in Mar-a-Lago left the Chinese side incredulous.

Probably the Chinese are going to test the mettle of the new US  administration. The Afghan debacle left them in shock. Hence the temptation to call Washington's bluff . However there is no immediate reason to fear the worst, as some do. China is a possessive power, not an acquiring one. It plays the waiting game, slowly creating a fait accompli in what  it considers to be its zone of legitimate, historic influence (South China Sea, Tibet).  It doesn't hesitate to return to Emperor Qianlong, if it fits its narrative. The Chinese are united in never forgetting the opium wars and the humiliations brought on by the Western powers. They consider Westerns to be over-nervous and superficial. Their way is more a sophisticated tactic "to smother". Beware of the pillow which is presented. It is not ment for rest but used for slow asphyxiation. The fortune cookie might behold a death sentence.

They will never give up on Taiwan but they will certainly sort their possible options with caution.

One does't give enough credit to the highly sophisticated ways the thinking goes in the Chinese power elite. It knows too well that it has to deal with imminent threats of climate change, economical bluff, an aging population, a cynical generation of game addicts and over-reach (Africa). 

Beijing will not jeopardize its still shaky success story by "adventurous", unwaranted moves.  Regarding Taiwan,  it probably has no better option than to wait and see (the Hong Kong way), as long as the US doesn't oblige it to intervene militarily, the least desirable option since it would risk losing both face and control of events in the region. China might be angry but it is not a fool.

So far, so good as long as a familiar cynical mindset continues to prevail in all corners. After all, a status quo is just another convertible for the usual modus operandi that occurs between partners who have no illusions about the other's long- term intentions.

LUDIVINE DEDONDER

La ministre de la defense Belge n'a pas de chance. A priori je garde de la sympathie pour elle. Elle gere un departement ou le miserabilisme regne. Elle porte un nom predestine, pour bande dessinee, et elle accumule les malchances sur terre, dans les airs et, maintenant sur mer.

La derniere  blague Belge autour de la fregate  Leopold  I est la goutte qui risque de faire deborder le vase. Cela est non attendu. La recente chasse a l'homme (la cavale Jurgen Conings) a fait la demonstration d'une armee qui ne vient pas a la cheville d'un camps scout.

Comble de malchance, l'armee a des porte paroles qui feraient l'affaire de RTL, chaine specialisee dans le troisieme age et les malheurs (Wallons). Il serait indique qu'une fois pour toutes l'armee s'exprime en anglais et qu'elle fasse l'economie du ridicule (cela vaut d'ailleurs erga omnes), tant en Flamand qu'en  Francais.

Dans ce pays ou les sous-prefectures abondent et ou les portefeuilles ministeriels deviennent des parts d'heritage de pere en fils, la creativite n'est plus a prendre,  elle est a ramasser.

Il est a parier que les genies de Namur, capitaleWallonne, vont reconstuire le corridor  miserabiliste de la Vesdre comme avant, question d'abdiquer l'imagination et de ne pas devier de la corruption structurelle, responsable de malheurs repetes et jamais amendes.

Il y a au sein du gouvernement federal des personnalites interessantes. L'axe autour du Premier Ministre depasse les clivages belgo-belges. On attend Dermine au retour. Reste l'infortunee Madame Dedonder qui, rentree du Sahel, se retrouve les pieds dans l'eau. Au point ou on en est, autant la garder sous surveillance,...comme Boudu sauve des eaux (Michel Simon).

THE PACE OF DIPLOMACY IS NOT A RACE

Major powers usually wait. They can afford this luxury, since others are too happy to linger in their zone of influence, benefiting from the "umbrealla" and receiving the dividend. The United States was for a long time the model of a confident, benevolent partner. Under Nixon the wall started to crack. While Dr. Kissinger elaborated his balance of power model, he contradicted his very own analysis by freaky interventions and non-truths in, i.a., Chile and South East Asia. Nevertheless America remained the undisputed superpower which could afford to act without prior approval. Slowly this unilateral mind construction eroded, until it broke down under the weight of hubris and faulty management.

Coming after Trump's mad reign, President Biden is under pressure to halt America's downfall. He runs almost, while China and Russia watch. Hence Washington gives the impression of pursuing a disjointed, often unconvincing policy. The "Five eyes intelligence" sharing (US, Australia, UK, New Zealand, Canada), the QUAD ( US, Australia, India, Japan) and the AUKUS submarine deal (US, Australia, UK) betray haste, unfit for a major power.

While one can understand the goal, one is entitled to question the method or lack of coherence.  The ominous silence from Moscow and Bejing is commensurate with their displeasure. The EU feels ignored, France is sulking and NATO deals with a "senior moment".  All these accumulative "piques" and "snubs" are not irrelevant. They can be very vicious indeed. Europeans might be tempted by a repeat of the Helsinki farce, which would definitively further marginalize them. The Americans should beware of hurting too many egos by trumping special relationship(s) with anyone but the EU. The Transatlantic Tech Alliance is already a victim of the current bad mood between former Atlantic partners.

America became a moral pariah under Trump. Now the EU must support Biden, and correct him when necessary, so that "sweet sorrows" can be healed. For sure both the EU and the US have lost their superior appeal. China inspires envy, Russia fear, the EU boredom. Biden can still restore the transatlantic folie a deux but should beware of a menage a trois which will only complicate matters further.

It becomes clearer by the day that China is becoming the originator of strategic impulse worldwide and that it is apt at projecting its model as formidable. Western democracies fight the demons of immigration, climate change and an unaffordable welfare Utopia. True, while many are in awe of China's rise, few are tempted to live over there for pleasure. Bejing will never give up on Taiwan or the South China Sea. The cat and mouse game will continue as long as the "son of heaven" enjoys the waiting. 

The United States and the EU are still closer than their rivals are with their feudal underlings.  President Biden certainly wants to restore the relationship with the EU. After all, other major clashes have occured wherein the Europeans yet again split ranks (over Iraq, during the Bush/Blair partnership). The new secretary of State is the ideal personality to heal brised European egos. 

It is appropriate to counter China indeed, but the choice of the means to do so remains unclear and should be discussed amongst allies first. Australia is a major player and should indeed have a major role, but not at the cost of  traditional partners. The UK should likewise not receive a premium on the back of the EU.

Dr. Kissinger's analysis was perfect, but so was Metternich's in his time. Since then the world turned topsy-turvy. History is cruel, like aging.  Contrary to believe it  doesn't repeat itself. We are in need of a new scenario .

WALLONIE : OUI...MAIS

Voila que le Part Socialiste reclame 600 millions en faveur de la Wallonie, au nom de la solidarite federale. A priori rien ne devrait s'opposer a cela. Les ravages ont ete catastrophiques et  les moyens au niveau regional font manifestement defaut.

Cependant la situation doit encore etre examinee de plus pres. Un cheque en  blanc est exclu. 

En premier lieu l'enquete decidee par le gouvernement Wallon sur les causes et effets est peu credible. Elle risque surtout de creer une nouvelle fois la pirouette qui permet au pouvoir en place d'eviter la sanction, voir meme la contrition. Il eut fallu une formule d'examen moins politique et surtout plus experte. Maintenant ce sont les accuses qui sont supposes rendre un verdict !

Une aide doit etre geree par d'autres que par des personnalites en place qui ont demontre qu'ils n'ont aucune vision de l'avenir. L'amenagement et la reconstruction doivent faire l'objet d'un projet elabore, contemporain, contradictoire, ouvert a des propositions, venant aussi de l'etranger, sans quoi le miserabilisme ambiant risque une nouvelle fois de se repeter. Un appel "ouvert" (type concours d'idees) devrait suppleer aux carences qui occupent quotidiennement le journal ringard de RTL .

On a pu voir combien la deconcentration des pouvoirs en Belgique est toxique, en premier lieu dans des situations qui requierent une mobilisation de moyens et une vision. Ce n'est pas au sein de la boite a souliers dans laquelle les parlementaires Wallons se trouvent coinces que la lumiere jaillira.

Il est indeniable que l'amenagement (quasi inexistant) du territoire en plusieurs parties de Wallonie, ainsi que la gestion des eaux et barrages. doivent etre reexamines, voir meme sanctionnes, la ou des fautes graves sont apparues.

Bref, la solidarite merite d'etre prise en consideration pour autant qu'elle ne devienne pas une nouvelle fois prisonniere d'une culture politique, responsable de l'enlisement, au sens propre et au sens figure.

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COSI FAN TUTTI

The AUKUS,  a new menage a trois beween the US, Australia and the UK leaves the French in a hystercal rut. This submarine deal will allow a sharing of artificial intelligence, cyber and long-range capabilities. Formost, it lets the Americans run away with a deal that the French claimed as theirs.

The French president suddenly acts as if he were tempted by theatrics, which is unusual. It all comes back:  the humiliations in Yalta, De Gaulle's years in the London fog, President Kennedy's US/UK deal . When unfrozen, history's smell is foul.

The inclusion of London might look "over the top".  After all, the UK is a mothballed former power.  Princess Diana was able to reinvent for a while the British monarchical link with Australia, be it in Vanity Fair style. The rekindling was short-lived. It comes as a surprise that President Biden bypassed other possible suitors, but given that both the UK and France were under the circumstances the only possible candidates, London was the safest choice, both for temperament and for tenuous historical reference.

Biden is becoming a very interesting president, in a Truman way. This democrat is something of an autocrat. This catholic can be a heretic.  This "quiet American" is made of steel. Unlike his erratic predecessor he is impervious to pique and not impressed by pomp. Unlike Obama he is not in awe of history. Like Truman, he comes more from Congress than from somehere. Republicans better beware. He leaves the vice-president just enough room to stand on.. and might trap an opposition, he knows too well.

The French already have their coming presidentials on their mind. They will also take the leadership of the EU after January first. The tone will be agressive, nationalistic and, when needed, anti-American. For a country famous for its cynical outlook, this might look suprising. In former years people kowtowed to the French, in their presence. Now they make fun of them, in their absence.

Talleyrand said that politics is the systematic cultivation of hatred (sounds familar, no?)   The French should pilgrimage to the Pere Lachaise instead and follow up on Oscar Wilde's saying that the best revenge is to live well.  After all, they have a reputation!

BELGIE OP ZOEK NAAR EEN SCENARIST.

Bart De Wever is een begaafd polticus. Daarom is het des te verwondelijk dat zijn jongste speech in De Panne totaal ontbrak aan visie en  creativiteit. De steeds terugkomende verwijzing naar een soort Vlaamse psyche die meer inhaakt op de mythologie dan op een moderne interpretatie, zoals die o.m. bestaat bij David Van Reybroeck, Luk Tuymans of Bart van Loo verbaast. De N-VA van Homans,Weyts, Demir & Co. heeft zich vastgereden in ressentiment. Flander's Technology had tenminste veerkracht en was toekomstgericht. Van iemand zoals De Wever, burgemeester van Belgie's locomotief, is zo een verhaal absurd.

De zoveelste grondwetsherziening wordt voorbereid. Alle "ismes"liggen op tafel, terecht. Het valt helaas te verwachten dat het corrupt wanbeheer niet zal worden aangesproken. De ontelbare ministers en burgemeesters snijden liever in het land dan in hun achtertuin. Het debat zoals dit bedreven wordt in de Vlaamse Koepelzaal, de Waalse schoendoos of in de Brusselse circustent is een belediging voor de intelligentie. 

De federale regering probeert de wanorde onder controle te houden. Een curatele ware beter. Dermigne en Vandenbroucke zijn interessante Ministers. Aleksander De Croo is, jammer genoeg, geen overtuigende communicator. De Groenen worden meer en meer onverteerbaar en dogmatisch. Of De Croo kan opkomen met een coherent, afgeslankt model blijft vooralsnog een raadsel. 

Het ware een illusie de watersnood rond Luik te beschouwen als een eenmalige katastrofe. Het klimaat wordt de uitdaging van deze eeuw en het zijn niet de 8 of 9 Belgische Excellenties die daar de verantwoordelijkheid in delen die zullen bijdragen tot een gresoverschrijdende consensus. Wallonie zou beter  een internationaal concours organiseren voor suggesties inzake wederopbouw, ruimtelijke ordening en infrastruktuur. Andersom wordt het opnieuw een Echternach projekt, beheerd door lokale, wereldvreemde belangen.

Vlaanderen zou aandacht moeten besteden aan wat Nederland doet, liever dan zich te vergapen aan een herschreven eigen Heimatmodel a la Pirenne . Nederland heeft weliswaar weinig sympathie voor wat de Willy Vandersteen's Zuiderburen allemaal doen. Zij begrijpen trouwens geen Vlaams en hebben al lang gekozen voor Churchill's "A  history of the english- speaking peoples". Terwijl Couperus grandioos Nederlans schreef, liepen de Zuiderburen verloren in "de bloeiende wijngaard". Het is moeilijk groot te worden als men  klein blijft denken.

Vlaams belang is waarschijnlijk een conjunctureel fenomeen dat aanleunt bij Trump, Orban en komplotmythologie (Q'anon) . Het nihilisme daarin is op lange termijn ohoudbaar, en het is gedoemd om van Scylla in Charydis te vallen in 2010.

Belgie kan zich nog herpakken. Het gaat minder om de Staatsvorm die uiteindelijk uit de bus zal komen dan om een teruggevonden  efficientie en transparentie van het bestuur. Omdat zo een beslissing polieke moed vraagt ware het misschien beter een opdracht te geven aan bv. Deloitte en Touche om een blueprint van moderne staatshervorning op tesrellen, On peut rever !

LE PROCES DE PARIS

Abdeslam a d'emblee donne le ton. Recitant le credo des "croyants" il a aussitot ravive la ligne de demarcation qui coure comme un serpent a travers les frontieres et les meilleures volontes.

Il est en cela l'heritier des rancunes et de l'ignorance. Ce proces risque de creuser le gouffre qui existe entre les lumieres (assiegees) et l'obscurantisme. Cet homme et les siens sont des genocidaires qui se sont a jamais exclus de toute forme de civilisation. En se reclamant de Dieu, ils le rendent infrequentable.

Il faut essayer de se garder des amalgames mais ils deviennent incontournables. On arrive a se demander ou se cachent l'indignation et le rejet qui doivent quand meme exister dans les rangs des Musulmans. Il semblerait que la honte, au demeurant ambigue, les empeche de se declarer clairement.

Ce proces aura des repercussions fondamentales. Les prejuges vont hausser le ton. Il deviendra encore plus difficile de trouver un terrain d'entente entre oppositions qui existent deja a l'etat latent. En Occident la droite beneficiera de ce coefficient empoisonne. Les Arabes dits moderes se trouveront dans une situation incomfortable, pris dans l'etau du Disneyland du Golfe et du desert Islamique Afghan.

Bref cet accuse minable au physique insignifiant et au palmares epouvantable est surtout un rat d'egout qui se cachait honteusement dans le ventre mou de Bruxelles. En cela il etait un scorpion comme ses semblables a New York, a l'areoport de Bruxelles, et partout ou la mort n'est meme plus a credit...elle arrive "en gros".

Le rat se multiplie. Nul doute que d'autres egarements arriveront, non annonces.  La culture europeenne proclame a Paris son "J'accuse". Il nous appartient maintenant de remplacer le "je" par"nous".

DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Yesterday's mayhem in Kabul did not come as a total surprise. The trap was laid for all to see. In deceitful calm or in chaos, terrorists thrive. 

Probably the Talibans are more shellshocked than the Americans. Both claimed control of sorts and seemed to obey a baffling mutually agreed understanding of laissez faire in the zones under their fragile control.

In this pair both are duped. It would be a supreme irony if both turned together against a third unknown (yet) party.  It happened before when the Americans armed the Mujadideen against the Russian occupation (remember Zbigniew Brzezinski at the Kyber Pass?). Cynicism is not in President Biden's DNA but desperate times make strange bedfellows and history is full of outre couplings.

The Ring of Evil goes from West Africa to Afghnaistan.  It looks like a ragtag but it is well organized with its interconnected communication and service apparatus. It tends to come out in given places and on given times when the logistics look advantageous. Kabul was not to be missed. The West is humiliated and the Talibans got a warning.

It is important that the West sticks together and avoids the blame game at all costs. The evildoers might even have achieved an undesirable outcome, obliging Russia and China i.a. to become more pro-active.

The EU should not play the "distant aloof partner" role and should openly support the American president and not give in to its more primitive anti-Americanism, which should remain burried forever. In private, questions should have been raised earlier when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled the lies. The public comments heard now in Brussels, NATO and the EU are mystifying... (a suivre).

FUBAR - Fouled up beyond all recognition.

Leaving Afghanistan is the right decision. Unfortunately, too many collateral questions remain unsolved and the signs are ominous.

Once the Americans (and others) leave, the fate of too many who want to get out could easily end up in tragedy.

Meanwile the airport remains a target for ISIS, while the US looks unprepared or unwilling to leave the airport's perimeter.

The question remains if the US and Western Embassies were able to desactivate and destroy sensitive material.  If the precedent of the whereabouts of the military soft- and hardware that fell into the hands of the Talibans teaches a lesson, it is not a pretty one.

That the head of the CIA met with the Taliban in Kabul without obtaining any concession, is indicative of the unease in Washington and of the resolution of the new masters of Kabul.

Indications are clear that the Taliban will not roll back their core ideology. Nevertheless they will be obliged to enter into some form of sophisticated commerce with the world. Their spokesperson Mohammed Suhail Shaheen acts already as if he were running for a Pulitzer.

The EU/US short-lived romance is back in the Emergency Room.

The Trump-era Doha talks and the roles of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassdor Khalilzad are shrouded in mystery and need clarification.  This lamentable event will have consequences, some foreseeable, some unknown yet.

America has suffered a breakdown. To be right regarding the decision made in principle doesn't suffice if the consequences are out of control. Actually Afganistan looks like a replay of so many European colonial misfires, when the illusion of some "westernized" veneer couldn't hide that most people didn't give a damn.

Imagine the mood in Beijing....at least the Uyghurs may benefit from a warming up between Beijing and Kabul.  Pakistan was essential in the evacuation. It will be interesting to find out what the baksheesh will be.

Voltaire remains as relevant as ever:  Quel livre immense on composerait de tous les faits qu'on a crus, et dont il fallait douter.

AFGHANISTAN...DIFFIDENT EXPECTATIONS ..

It is too early to arrive at an assessment of the causes that led to the collapse of the ante Taliban. We are even clueless regarding the post take-over yet. One thing is clear, the new rulers learned to "spin" if not to govern (yet) but the sheep skin shoudn't fool anyone.

While most comments deride America, President Biden is right to stick to his guns. This war became totally absurd given that it no longer received the support of the majority of people it pretended to protect. The Kabul clique, installed by countless American administrations, became an affront to sober, informed governance. Some well meaning NGOs and a handful of "intellectuals" tried to boost the little social progress made, but in the end the Sharia law remained in the DNA, stronger than the billboards avertising Western consumer goods reserved for the few.

The new cycle in Kabul must run its course. The continuity of war would have further delayed and, worse, derailed any long-term chance of improvement! By staying, America would have smeared its already tarnished image even further. No later than last year Trump was ready to host the Talibans in Camp David and was negociating with them in the luxury of Doha. 

Criticism of the US is warranted, regarding the intelligence and the various contingencies that were considered and readied on stand-by. The West in general first must now support the Afghans who were employed as fixers, interpreters, etc.  with a safe exit and possible legal status. The Talibans cannot be trusted on their word or generous intentions.

It is impossible to predict what the return of the Talibans will mean for the Afghans and for the region.  A lot is at stake: human rights, geopolitics, drug trade, terrorism. Everybody saw it coming but nobody expected an investment of 20 years occupation (?) to crash at such a speed, from within. 

People who overstay their time end up boring their host. The NATO forces ended up looking like clunky props in the wrong play. They had a lot of hard- and software but no history books. All American presidents since George W. Bush got trapped in the deceiving Afghan looking-glass. It befell President Biden to have the guts to put an end to this travesty which brought honor to none and misery to many. The take-over is not finished and one better readies for unpleasant "man" made (after all they are Talibans) turbulence and mayhem. Old timers like Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah might be willing to give the Talibans cover.

The Talibans must come clear on many issues: women and minorities, rule of law, international relations. It is naive to expect any qualitative movement in the areas of religion, governance, education, or nation rebuilding.

The West will then have to decide how to proceed. It must find a way to help the few who supported pluralism and carefully engage with the many who could never be engaged in the democratic process. There remains Al Qaeda. The Talbans will encounter pockets of resistance (Jalalabad) and despair that might interfere with the projection of a "soft landing" as performed by the new rulers in Kabul.

The Talibans should not condescend to the thousands who want to leave. The images coming out of the Kabul airport hell are an indication of the worst intentions of the "new Kabul" and of the ineffectiveness of the West, which should be better at proving that its commitment holds consequences. China and Taiwan are certainly watching how all this unfolds.

IS KABUL BURNING?

Afghanistan, where empires come to die, was the wrong war, or better the other wrong war, after Iraq. President George W. Bush made a perverse calculus and his successors only let the initial error metastastasize. It was to be expected that after 9/11 (a mostly Saudi "enterprise", by the way ) the US had to find Bin Laden. President Obama finally got him. He should have packed then.

Now the world is witnessing a remake of Saigon. The difference being that the Vietcong knew about progress while the Talibans are impervious to change, now. Observers thought that Afghanistan was a failed state anyway, held together by an unconvincing American and NATO footprint. At the end of the day the Afghan army is AWOL and the costly American armements are for grabs, yet again. The Pentagon looks like a house of fools ruled by the unadept.

For the Americans, this unfolding unglorious ending is an embarassing moment, partially of their own making. They listened to a few enlightened Afghans who were totally unrepresentative of a population that remains stuck in yesterday. The few emancipated women and other intellectuals became the predictable CNN props, no one in Kabul and in the heartland really cared about.

Last century Fukuyama could still say with impunity that history had arrived at an end point and that America alone would determine the world's future. Today the world has evolved into a multipolar poker game wherein the Americans no longer have the wining hand.  They will have to accept that some do not want to be in their sphere of  influence. Countries became disenchanted or just uninterested in the former American dream. It will be better if the US gives up on their need to be liked and accept to become unum inter pares.

The Afghan tragedy will have consequences. Disbelief in American savoir faire, which grew since Trump's grotesque tenure, will increase. The humanitarian crisis might be catastrophic...but not for the many Afghans who felt snubbed or forgotten by the Kabul "elites" or just ignored by the Washington clueless chorus around Rumsfeld & Co.  Pakistan is yet again a joker in this new geo-political game. China observes and Iran must decide how its interests are best served. The EU has become mere a "voyeur" again in a world which is getting used to living without Europe.

Western hubris got a slap in the face. President Biden is right to let this charade  end. Some consider his new "hands off" policy a blunder. The fact remains that this war was costly and only benefited a too often totally corrupt group of profiteurs in Kabul. For most Afghans this ending will often be unconsequential. TheTalibans might even be better at governance, as understood by the people who lived under the rule of a puppet apparatus with little legitimity. 

Democracy is a slow learning process. If it is just imposed on a "take it or leave it rollcall",  it will fail. The Chinese know patience and are masters of the slow movement. One might wonder how they will act, but if the past holds a lesson, it looks as if they alone might be a match for this new assymetric challenge at their borders. Russia knows all too well the cost of its own Afghan mistake to come close to the furnace again.  Nevertheless it will take notice of NATO's unrelability when it is considering further steps in Eastern Europe. The Baltic states and Ukraine might get scared.  America needs to face the brutal reality of no longer being the unipolar pole star.  Wherever it turns there are others already, be it on land, in space, in the Antarctic, who are marking their own territorial claims. 

What must Dr. Kissinger think?

DE BUDAPEST VARIANT IN DE VRT

De Olympische spelen geven altijd aanleiding tot grote teleurstelling of tot een over het paard getilde euforie. Niettegenstaande de enge atmosfeer bracht Tokyo toch nog een vleugje plezier.

Belgie deet het niet slecht. De driekleur was er opnieuw bij. Geen hanen of leeuwen ...

Helaas was er het onsmakelijk post mortem  van VRT journalist Eddy Demarez over de Belgian Cats. Zijn homofoob commentaar toont vooral aan dat we niet verder moeten kijken dan bij ons om attent te blijven over het rechts ultra gedachtengoed dat ook hier aangroeit. Gelukkig hebben de basketbalsters met klasse en ongelooof gereageerd op de praat van die Neanderthaler. Proficiat,Dames !

WALLONIE : LA DIAGONALE DU FOU

La "grille" de la Belgique etait une verticale Nord / Sud. Il a fallu qu'une Excellence socialiste wallone decida de "corriger" cela en faisant construire l'autoroute de Wallonie qui est une balafre Ouest / Est, qui  a fige une partie du Sud belge dans un sous developpement permanent, bon pour un scenario des freres Dardenne...

Plusieurs pays en Europe souffrent du desenchantement post charbonnier mais le corrigent. La Wallonie reste largement victime d' un marasme de corruption, d'assistanse suspecte et d'infrastructure tiers mondiste. Seuls un changement de mentalites ou des "start ups" courageux peuvent corriger cela. Il y a des exemples. Au demeurant certains efforts, comme a Charleroi, commencent a refigurer les donnees.

Les inondations en Belgique ont mis a jour  des deficiences inpardonables du systeme, aggravees par le modele impose par les poliques. Los Angeles, plus grand que la Belgique a un maire ! Les Etats-Unis ont une administration pluri-disciplinaire (FEMA) qu peut intervenir immediatement et efficacement (bien qu'il y a eu des derives impardonnables, comme lors des inondations a la Nouvelle Orleans). En Wallonie on ne voit que des sinistres stresses, secourus tant bien que mal par des volontaires incredules. Le gouvernement wallon (tout comme ses homologues flamand et bruxellois) est l'autre histoire belge qui fait le tour du monde.

Pepinster est devenu le symbole de tout  ce qui ne va pas. Les habitants se sentent abandonnes . Rien de concret ne vient apporter un espoir quantitatf, voir meme qualitatif. Les assureurs font ce qu'ils font de mieux, assomer les victimes avec des demandes d'autant plus sottes que dans ce coin maudit le gaz, l'electricite ou l' internet font defaut.

Il faut envigager la creation immediate d'un mechanisme compact, non politique,  muscle, compose de de professionnels, ainsi  que des moyens pour encourager un reflexe d'ecoute creative. L'armee etait mobilisee pour chercher un seul fugitif. Ici elle est quasiment absente! la region a besoin d' une vision pour reconstruire (comme le feraient les Neerlandais) , pour recharger les batteries endormies et pour preparer un projet regional wallon 2025, avec un concours d'idees, aussi internationales.

Le guignol triste de responsables a bout, de sinistres hallucines et de secouristes et benevoles armes de moyens appartenant au siecle passe ne fait que prolonger l'agoisse de personnes a qui l'on promet la soupe, un balais et le containeur.....bel avenir !

Oui, il faut enqueter vite, intervenir de facon contemporaine (de grace arretons le style miserabiliste RTL), interroger des archtectes, sociologues, specialistes de la reconversion.... on attend le Premier Ministre et le Secreataire d'Etat Dermine. Pepinster, Trooz etc. meritent mieux qu'une aumone, des excuses et de l'espoir concret !

Reste l'Autoroute de Wallonie....pourquoi ne pas envisager une alternative verte ? Soyez novateurs... pour une fois!

IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE

This century is still young in years. Tragically it is already irreparable. The negatives increase by the day and life itself becomes a lie posing as the new normal.

Two major events are shaping our future, the systematic killing of " consideration" under Trump and the denial of climate change by too many.

America's degeneration did not start with Trump. It originated in the swamps of Vietnam and the sands of Iraq, two interventions that started the reign of the big US lie-machine. Trump only increased and enlarged the rule of the counter-truth to such an extent that it became the QAnon bible of millions of Americans and of a growing fanclub worldwide.  After all, the rats invaded Budapest, the priests rule Poland, the madness prevails in Delhi.  Trump will be known in history books as the grand destroyer, and, unfortunately so,  his clones multiply. 

He  isalso representative of the denial  regarding climate change. He might be too old to see his Mar-a-Lago lair under water, but his Al Capone family might have to call it quits, when the truth of the aqua alta floods their doorsteps. Climate change is a ticking bomb. The timid steps made in the Paris Accord will not stem the tide. Alredy the Antarctic is a melting ice cube in a glass filled with indifference. The occurence of wildfires, storms and freakish weather patterns find people unprepared and governments defaulting. It is a scandal and the arc of Spengler's Untergang goes from China to little Belgium.

The world was never a place for the fainthearted but there was still room, grande illusion?,  for regret, hope, closure. It became hard to believe in anything after World War II, but here and there a recovery and some form of forgiveness made people believe in a better "elsewhere". Today people stay indoors, addicted to Netflix which has become the Zantac moment of the day, free of charge.

Suffice to witness the Brussels EU meetings, wherein countries that have zero interest in each other, only play the games of mutual loathing. In Tokyo the Olympics are less about sport than about the joy of Zen. The Middle East will always be the Middle East, another pack of lies for a shrinking lot of amateurs. Putin makes his country look better at the cost of freezing anything existential that made Russian culture great, until the clock of morality ran out. 

The years ahead will be interesting but so unpleasant. More people will die from  curable ailments than from untreatable ones.  What would Voltaire make out of  this?

LA WALLONIE COULE

Les pluies et les inondations ont fait decouvrir aux Belges l'ampleur des disparites dans leur drole de Royaume. Ils ont ete confrontes a une realite que les fabriquants d'images (a l'exception de l"overdose" RTL) preferent ignorer. A longueur de journees, les drames personnels sur fonds de marasme economique ont mis a nu une alienation socio-politique dangereuse.

Seuls le Roi et la Reine ont eu des gestes qui semblaient reels. Ils apparaissaient bien seuls d'ailleurs, conscients sans doute de l'aspect aleatoire de leur role. Les autorites federales mais, en premier lieu, le "gouvernement Wallon" (on croit rever) ont failli a leur devoir. La cote des responsables Wallons est devenue nulle.  Vouloir tout gerer et vider le Federal au benefice de la sous-prefecture conduit a une incompetence generalisee. Sous un systeme eclaire les solidarites se seraient aussi multipliees. A quoi sert ce qui reste de "B Fast "s'il n'existe plus de reflexe pour venir en aide a son voisin immediat ?

La decence elementaire eut du conduire a un armistice institutionnel . Bart De Wever n'a rien trouve de mieux que de remettre l'alternative republicaine sous les projecteurs. Vouloir se lier aux Pays-Bas releve de la folie alors que les Neerlandais internationalistes n'ont que faire de voisins meridionaux provinciaux. La gueguerre au sein du gouvernement federal au sujet des sans-papiers est un autre symptome de la myopie politique de certains (les memes qui sont a l'origine du recul Wallon).

D'aucuns esperent que le premier ministre, justement apprecie par beaucoup, sera ecoute, mais gouverner avec les Verts conduit a un Hara kiri annonce. Ce parti n'a plus rien a envier a une idelolgie qui frise le fascisme. Dans sa propre mouvance liberale le premier Ministre doit aussi maitriser les temperament formule 1 de  Georges- Louis Bouchez et Co. Bref l'Automne sera chaud.

En attendant il convient en premier lieu de mobiliser les moyens pour venir en aide aux personnes qui ont tout perdu et de revoir l'infrastructure, la communication et de remodeller un sillon urbain qui pourra se substituer au cauchemar existant, sorti d'un roman de Dickens. Les victimes ne doivent pas une nouvelle fois devoir payer pour l'incurie du "regime" qui siege a Namur. Que de dernier prenne exemple de la gestion du bourgemestre  de la capitale Wallonne et qu'il ecoute le Secretaire d'Etat Thomas Dermine. Le miserabilisme ne doit pas devenir une fatalite.

BRET STEPHENS ABOUT CHINA ( New York Times 05/07/21)

Bret Stephens is one of the most enjoyable and sophisticated columnists in the New York Times today.

His opinion about China makes yet again for informative and stimulating reading. His overall rather dark appraisal of the Chinese leadership is warranted. Nevertheless, the unpleasant intentions of President Xi should not hide the added value of better socio-economic results for a majority of Chinese.

China's sins are well known. The organised looting of intellectual property is documented. The charade of human rights is a daily occurence (but not unique to China).

The mad Hegelian/Dr. Cagliari-type Marxist experiments of Mao reached the summit of madness. Nevertheless the whole world ran to Beijing to kiss the ring of the Fisherman redux. Only a few Chinese heroic students dared to desecrate the image of Mao Zedong, at what cost!

Now the game of untruth is in full swing:  Covid, Ughiurs i.a., Hong Kong's agony as S.A.R. etc.

Nevertheless :

- Dr. Kissinger's China policy was not at all directed "to turn China's poverty around". The only goal was to avoid the one (USA) against two (USSR + China) presumption. The timing was correct since the reations between China and the USSR had suffered under a rather unplesant border Amur River dispute.

- China's more muscled approach towards India is highly measured (on both sides). The claims on the South China reefs or Tibet are highly quesstionable but the Chinese are masters in digging vague historical precedent up whenever it fits their goal. There is always the precedent of a Chinese emperor which comes in handy, generally Qianlong. China's Ill tratement by the West (real) is permanently in use for "blackmail", as if others didn't suffer injustice.

-Indeed China will not bury the rest, including the West. Devoid of a narrative it lacks soft-power for now, with the exception of an infrastructure footprint here and there, often foreordained to rot.

-Everybody has his own views regarding Taiwan. The Han Chinese are made for each other, Northern or Cantonese.   In the end the Chinese table is round and seats all.  In Hong Kong the democratic fiber is anything but dead, but Beijing made it abundantly clear that it might just as well pull out the plug and let Hong  Kong's vanity starve. Taiwan is probably Asia's most advanced democratic bullwark. This does not hinder an enormous economic and social intimacy between the opposite sides of the strait. Beijing wants to swallow the prize but will not take the bait.

All persons who come in contact with China make the same mistake, walking into China's "otherness", a trap that the Chinese perfected and in which non-Chinese enter.  Yes, the Chinese are special, but so are the French or the Mexicans. China is a rising power indeed but it is smart enough to know it had better correct its  rigmarole before its bluff is for all to see. At the end of the day the storyline reeks of deja vu.

100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CCP

The Chinese Communist Party offered itself a laudatory show and speech from President Ji Jinping , for the whole world to notice. 

The impressive show of force shoudn't surprise. China scores on so many fields and its blatant shortcomings regarding human rights go largely unnoticed, even in Muslim countries that should be expected to care more about their brethern in the Western parts. 

Xi Jinpin rules more like Emperor Kangxi, who vassalged northern Mongolia and Tibet, than Qialong who was a more creative but distracted ruler. President Xi must have been amused meeting Trump, the perfect fool and "Barbarian". If one comes in contact with Chinese one better not forget that China lives by the rule of symmetry. Hence its harsh words regarding Hong Kong, Taiwan or the Spratlys and Paracels in the South China Sea or the Diaoyutais, which were returned by the US to Japan in 1971. One can be assured that Beijing will resort to any means to put its sphere of sovereignity in order. Obervers are divided about counting military intervention as a further radical step under consideration.

Chinese are apt at pillow After all, the afrodisiac calls China home.  China's belt and road initiative strangles as much as it gives. The original enthusiasm for China's new silk road has waned. It uses charm and plays its "otherness" to the sole end of control. The pillow smoothes as much as it suffocates. This "technique" was used by the Manchus to "domesticate" the Chinese ! Sometimes it feels as if mostly Western powers still do not fully know history, the power of Chinese ressentment after the humiliations that were imposed in the 19th and 20th centuries. If no country is like any other, then China might be the most definively"other" one. 

The catastrophes it unleashed on itself are yet again proof of a neurotic self-centered arrogance. Among the last Chinese leaders, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin were mostly busy cleaning or refubishing the house. Hu Jintao was more an approachable predictable autocrat.  Xi canged all that. He is the Sun God who wants to be the epicentre inside and in the world. He might still like to deal with the Americans but will have little time for Europeans considered as "have beens". Other contries everywhere will swallow the expected kowtow for some investment or infrastructure works that might ruin them in the future.

For Western mentalities, the end of dynasties are a thing of the past, often bitter but expected. For the Chinese, the looting of the Summer Palace in 1860 is fresh on the mind.  The spoiled youths in Shanghai live more with South Korean boy bands than with history lessons, but in their DNA there is an arrogant pride which is a perfect tool in the hands of a system which has no other direction than success. One mistake might lead to terrible consequences but intellectual humility has never been a "forte" in Chinese leadership. Neither is a sense of humor...after all the mocking of Empress Dowager Ci Xi led to the siege of foreign legations in 1900.

China co-rules the world, the seas and space. It is master of the narrative inside, but it never went as far as the hearts.   It is too selfish to start a war which would turn global. It will continue paying, like a cat until the mouse lets go or retreats. Hong Kong might be a key to get into the Chinese mind. For now, the CCP can count its blessings !

  

MADAME DE STAEL WOULD HAVE APPROVED.

The meeting between Presidents Putin and Biden in Geneva looked somewhat dim. Some observers expected a new Tilsit or some major gaffe like the one of Trump's performance in Helsinki. Here, the atmosphere was business-like and polite. Nothing substantial transpired but both presidents alluded to eras of cooperation, but also red lines. They seemed eager not to let equiviocation undermine some degree of qualitative understanding.

The possible added-value of such a low-key summit cannot be underestimated. America must indicate in not unclear terms what it stands for again and how it can be a predictable partner in world governance.  After Trump & Co., the bonds of trust need to be reactivated. For sure, Putin will have appreciated to hear from his American counterpart what the US strategic parameters are. 

It is important that a similar meeting might be considered with President Xi. It has to be made clear that the former Kissinger approach of trying to divide Russia and China is no longer a sustainable policy. In the new world order there is now a fluidity which will lead to the rise of diverse, evolving partnerships. One should hope that the EU or NATO will not be totally unprepared to face new challenges and hybrid situations that were absent at the time of their creation.

A measured return to a more globalised vision should not hide the fact that the former main players are back en force.  Covid-19 will be remembered in history books for many reasons. Not only is it still an electro-shock for known former behavior, it showed in a merciless way the limits of globalisation, which fell victim to instinct and survival of the fittest and the richest. Hence, the grand players will have to be very cautious in relaunching a ship if it cannot stand rough seas.

Many countries must arrive at a therapy for their own ills before they atempt to clime the peaks. Russia, China, the US need to restore the equilibrium in their own midst. Even President Biden cannot count on his own flock. The ennemy within might be more lethal than the unfriendly others elsewhere. Russia and China alike hide the rot behind grand performance, for show. The EU looks like the Vatican, all verbiage and few followers.

Biden and Putin gave the impression to have arrived at some form of cool estimation that sobriety is not a bad thing. Leaders might have to realize that the company of unsavoury characters is not only costly but that it might be counter- indicated in the end. What is there to gain in Pyongyang, Caracas or Damascus? They might also make an effort to consider inroads in climate, the dangerous lure of the Antarctic, other pandemics ahead, hunger,  deforestation, the absurdity of space exploration versus the necessity of earth reparation.

Geneva has been the theatre of many strange encounters in politics, science and literature. Let us hope that its reputed calming effect might endure.

JURGEN CONINGS

Jurgen Conings is niet meer. Het ganse verhaal blijft hangen tussen tragedie en inconsequentie. 

Zijn lichaam werd gevonden naast de perimeter van de opzoekingen. De speurderhonden maken een slechte beurt, net zoals de verantwoordelijken van de opsporing, het leger, de politie, de inlichtingsdiensten en de platvoerse communicatie (kijkt niemand naar CNN ?).

Wel, de dokter met de trui kan weer ademen. De Belgen verdienen hun zoveelste Belgenmop. De Minister van landsverdediging blijft aan. Kortom plus ca change...

Blijven nog de Rode Duivels.

DOCTOR BIDEN'S WAITING ROOM

President Biden travels.

Europeans and most NATO members will be delighted to meet again with a committed American leader.

The Geneva meeting with President Putin will give him an opportunity to state in no uncertain terms America's commitment with allies and impatience with foes.

Unfortunately, in the West the situation is far from simple. In the United States, Trump might be gone for now but his agenda lives, as long as the Republicans prefer sabotage to healing. NATO got stuck between cynical laissez faire (Turkey) and geopolitical reality (the Baltic States/Ukraine). The EU underperformes. With member states such as Hungary and Poland it can no longer claim the moral high ground. The UK has become fodder for magazines made for doctor's waiting rooms.

Furthermore, the rise of China cuts into America's soft-power supremacy.

Trump left America wounded and it looks as if the cracks which appeared in the psyche of the Americans remain unabeited. The scourge which led to the infamous siege of the Capitol lives on.

In reality President Biden arrives as the leader of a country that feels "diminished". President Putin will not be impressed. He knows too well that gentlemen no longer go to war.  George W. Bush was the last.  Clinton had to be pushed.

The trip will nevertheless renew the times of cordial personal relations between Western leaders. It will not stop the disputable actions of some, neither will it repair America's overall supremacy, mortgaged on the cheap by Trump.  If the US Congress were different, the parameters for diplomatic achievements would be wider. Unfortunately, most Republicans and some Democrats belong more in Bible class than in the informed sophisticated chamber the Senate was supposed to be.

One has to face the consequences of the downward spirit of the Westen saga. Brexit gave it a blow from which it doesn't recover. The EU headquarters in Brussels start to look like the relics of a former ambition.  Soon they might be opened to provide shelter to the new immigrants. At least they will find a purpose in their unglorious ending. Trump was impressed by the grotesk architecture of the new NATO headquarters. Knowing his "taste" it should not be considered a compliment.

One wonders if any honest person can still believe what he or she hears and sees, while India is a morgue, the Mediterranean a Gericault tableau mourant, Brazil a deadly farce, Sub-Sahara a shooting range.  Nevertheless, the G7 will be toasting the better times to come...for whom?

Maybe the West should consider slimming down. The fat from the good old days starts to look almost indecent, given the sorry state of affairs worldwide. Better look at China which does more with less.

NAAR 11 JULI TOE

Ik ben een fan van Joel De Ceulaer. Zijn editorialen in de Week-end DeMorgen zijn gewoon verbluffend,onverbiddelijk maar nooit echt kwetsend.

Zijn laatste Vlaamse Leeuw bijdrage (DeMorgen 05/06/21) verwijst naar de stijl van Voltaire en naar de bazooka van Hugo Claus. 

Het is inderdaad zo dat die Vlaamse Leeuw vlaggen die opduiken telkens een modderig fietsparcours in beeld brengen en nooit verwijzen naar plezier, beleving, supporteren. In tegenstelling met de traditionele Belgische driekleur is de Leeuw altijd verdacht. Het is trouwens opmerkbaar dat hij bijna nooit te zien is bij kinderen of meer vrolijke evenementen. Hij werd ingepamd door een politiek agenda dat altijd troebel overkomt, ultra rechts, racistisch, homofoob en beangstigend wereldvreemd. De meeste "vendelzwaaiers" zijn trouwens anti globalisten. Zij zijn vergroeid met de modder van de Groenighe kouter . In het Vlaams Belang van Van Grieken, herkennen zij een "leader" die al hun meer betwistbare complexen vertegenwoordigt, zij het in een beter pak.

Dit Vlaanderen wordt een anti globalistisch bolwerk, dat in navolging van Hongarije en Poland een xenofoob agenda begint in te vullen. Bart De Wever (ook in zijn opvallende "verpakking") stelde de macht boven perinciepes. Vlaams belang erkent volmondig kleur. Vlaanderen wordt zodanig meer en meer plat gespoten met een ideologie van de verleden tijd. Die verloedering is gevaarlijk . Alexander De Croo is geen Macron. De Vivaldi coalitie is des te brozer dat ze niet meer op een Eyskens of Dehaene kan beroep doen. Conings en Co. zetten nu al de overheid onder schut.

De Vlaamse Leeuw zou niet hebben misstaan in de bestorming van het Capitool in Washington op 6 Januari jl. Overal duiken misvormde, ondoordachte hybrides op die geen enkel verantwoordelijke input voorstellen op sociaal, ekonomisch of cultureel vlak. In feite gaat het op een gemanipuleerde cafetroep die alleen wordt misbruikt voor komplot mythologie. Morgen zullen wij nog Van Grieken in Parijs zien voor een date met Marine Le Pen.

Kortom, Trump leeft...in Vlaanderen !

KEVIN

Kevin de Bruyne etait deja immensement apprecie. Sa blessure ne doit pas en faire  un martyre. Le Football est un sport magnifique mais les pieges sont nombreux. Trop de joueurs derappent, psychologiquement, moralement et physiquement. KDB allie la virtuosite a une forme d'immaterielite. La Belgique a son Patrocle.

JURGEN CONINGS

Rechts Vlaanderen heeft nu in de persoon van Jurgen Conings zijn Robin Hood. De Vlaamse regering zwijgt. Jan Jambon en Co. blijven geborgen  zitten in hun Vlaams epos van gulden sporen dorpsfolklore. 

Moderne Vlaamse schrijvers en kunstenaars trekken terecht hun neus op wanneer ze geconfronteerd worden met de minder "verlichte" aspekten van deze politieke sub-kultuur.

De Belgische federale regering doet het anders niet zo slecht. Zij kan weliwaar niet rekenen op de fair play van een melange van racime, homofibie en "conspiraties". De Covid crisis heeft er nog toe bijgedragen om enkele heimelijke agendapunten van extreem, vooral Vlaams, rechts  bloot te leggen.

Ondertussen blijft de kloplacht naar de nieuwe Vlaamse Ted Kaczynski "Unabomber" duren en stijgt diens populariteit met de dag. Het wordt nog voer voor een nieuw Hugo Claus verdriet !