JEAN-MARIE DEDECKER, LE SANCHO PANZA DE BART DE WEVER

L' encombrant bourgmestre de Middelkerke s'en va-t- en guerre électorale aux cotés de Bart De Wever. Cette union entre démagogie primaire et arrogance intellectuelle étonnera certains et séduira sans doute quelques frustrés.

Uu petit tour coté bord de mer et un simple récapitulatif de mémoire suffisent pour exposer le personnage et le style de Dedecker.

D'aucuns pensent que Bart De Wever se présente comme Machiavel. D'autres voient une contradiction entre ambition (anti Woke) et calcul .

Déjà les élections législatives de 2024 apparaissent comme plus médiocres qu'innovatrices. D'autres mouvances ne promettent pas beaucoup mieux, encore ne se galvaudent-elles pas dans les fonds de tiroir.

L' ONU AU BOIS DORMANT

Traditionnellement l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies étaient l'évènement le plus couru du "New York diplomlatique". Mème au temps ou de Gaulle traitait l'ONU de "machin", Manhattan faisait le plein.

Aujourd'hui l'ennui a remplacé l'engouement et plusieurs chefs d'état jouent aux abonnés absents. La Russie a tellement abusé de son veto que la pertinence du Conseil de Sécurité s'en trouve diminuée. 

Autour de l'ONU sont apparus des ersatzs a géométrie variable qui préfèrent le monothéisme au pluralisme. Les grandes ambitions d'hier ont fait place à des préoccupations régionales ou purement articulées autour du court terme.

Restent les sous-traitants qui continuent, heureusement, de remplir leur mandat (climat, santé, culture, travail, commerce, casques bleus au compte-goûtes).

Malheureusement, la valeur ajoutée que représente l'ONU est remise en question. Le groupe des 77 ( devenu une cacophonie) préférait encore se faire valoir au sein des Nations Unies pltôt que de faire bande apart. Les Palestiniens attachaient de l'importance à être considérés au sein de l'organisation. L'Ukraine prête encore une attention polie aux divagations du Conseil de Sécurité.

On ne fait pas de politique avec de la nostalgie. Rien ne sert de vouloir réanimer l'impossible. Il faut se rendre a l'évidence que le particulier a chassé le général et qu'il sera difficile de recoller les morceaux. Les intérèts a court terme ont chassé les ambitions d'hier (qui n'étaient pas toujours au dessus de tout soupçon).  Les sous-agendas réunissent désormais des alliés et complices plus ad hoc qu'ad rem.

Avc les acteurs actuellement en place on voit mal apparaitre un  Prince qui pourrait réveiller l'organisation. Mème les Etats-Unis semblent avoir opté pour la nonchalance, c'est tout dire.

ABOUT BIDEN AND AGE MOSTLY

History is packed with stories regarding age and its unwilling torch carriers. Nowadays, Biden is the toast of the rumor machine. Indeed he looks and acts his age. He appears cool with his situation, rather than trying to be seen as a pathetic climber for whom no mountain is too high. 

Having to measure pace and steps was never considered being a precursor of brain fatigue. Roosevelt, Eisenhower or Churchill  managed very well the occasional flare-ups that come with age. The young President Kennedy had to struggle on a daily basis with a a cluster of debilitating ailments.

In the horror show that Trump unleashed in his inauguration address, lies got front seats and truth received a bullet in the heart. Since then, America has never left the recovery room and the Republicans sealed their fate, boarding Trump's ship of fools.

The world suffers of too many ailments to risk forgetting the emergency number. The multiplication of bastard formations further complicates healing or any attempt of crisis management. One might hope that there is still room for a more sober and compassionate new world order, but the opposite seems to be happening. Even the more civilized remaining parts or groupings like the EU start to show cracks, due to the rise of fake news and actors who are no longer accountable.

Yes, Biden shows his age but even if he were not, the assault on his personality and politics is preordained. We are entering a play wherein the rule of the more unreliable actors drive the plot, while yesterday's heroes are deprived of their soliloquy. The axis of evil was still reversable then, now the pile of dirt grows by the day.

As much as the fumes stoked by Russia, North Korea, Iran are difficult to contain, the homegrown evil generated in the body of Western democracies becomes a spreading plague. 

The extraordinary efforts that are made, mostly under American stewardship, to reduce the scale of global evil need to be supported by the willing. Unfortunately the commonwealth of the better intentions is shrinking. A further complication comes with the arrival of the owners of the artificial intelligence, who are a new third column.

The ones who find Biden too old, Macron too imperial or Zelensky too Ukrainian are the gravediggers of what is left of  gravitas. Entertainment should be left where it belongs: on the set. Political acumen should reclaim the front seat.

HISTOIRES BELGES AVEC VINCENT VAN QUICKENBORNE ET FRANCOIS GEMENNE

Jamais deux sans trois.

Voilà que deux personnalités se sont fait remarquer dans un autre épisode de l'épopée belge...Le Ministre de la Justice dans le "pipi-gate", le professeur Liégois (fort distingué) dans un remake  en direct du roi Dagobert. Le premier est resté confus, le second "cool".

On attend le troisième.

THE UNITED NATIONS

The UN looks nowadays like some former grand hotel in a Wes Anderson movie. There are more rooms than guests. Even the location fails to attract.

The grand idea has been killed by the onslaught of Russia's veto power which paralyzes the machinery. Only the specialized agencies continue to function, for now. The General Assembly has yet again shown its lack of grip on situations, as was demonstrated during the Ukraine debate.

The diminishing appeal of the larger gatherings model is unstoppable for now. Many leaders no longer show up or pay little attention to what's happening, and the public at large only retains limousine headaches. The routine has outdistanced the function.

Other large, often overstretched fora start to suffer, too, from an attention deficit. The G20 and the EU hardly move hearts and minds. Newer and more scrutinizingly focused models fare better, the BRICS being a good example. Washington's strategic pooling in Asia and its Five Eyes arrangement with the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand is another example of the new Anglosphere diplomacy.

NATO experiences a second lifespan but it remains shaky and totally unbalanced, given the shortcomings of many members and the usual French illusions.

The UN is for an unforeseeable time mostly a symbolic reminder of past times. The West should stay clear of hastening its demise by neglect.