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 !