Reflections on the Guillotine
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
04/20/23
•33m
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French President, Emmanuel Macron, has had a complicated few weeks.
On the one hand, China's President Xi gave him red-carpet treatment in Beijing, where Macron, again, made his case for European strategic sovereignty—code for independence from the United States—and said that Europe should not follow America’s lead on Taiwan. Both were music to Chinese ears. On the other, his Taiwan comments stirred widespread anger across Europe and, of course, in Washington. He was burned in effigy in Paris during massive protests against pension reform, shouted down by hecklers in Amsterdam who challenged his democratic credentials, and lectured by even the Iranian government to respect the rights of protesters in the streets. His approval rating is below 30%, and the most recent polls suggest that if the election were held today instead of two years ago, Marine Le Pen would beat him in a landslide. Protesters have taken to reminding him that King Louis XVI ended his reign on the guillotine.
What's going on?
There seem to be only two possibilities. Either Macron has lost his way, which is dangerous for a president of an important country with four years left on his mandate, or he's playing a long game that only he understands.
Our guest on New Thinking for a New World, has strong views on those alternatives. Pierre Lellouche is a former French parliamentarian, government minister, diplomat, and widely-published commentator in France. He is deeply worried about what he sees as Macron’s strategic and political mistakes and the consequences for his country.
What do you think?
Previous Episode
Slouching Towards Texas (If Not Bethlehem)
April 6, 2023
•38m
Human history is a long and continuing story of migration. People have always moved out of fear or out of opportunity—and other people have always resisted them. That story continues today: as more people try to flee war, climate extremes and poverty, more walls get built, boats sunk, caravans disrupted, and refugees pushed back.
Aren't we supposed to be better than that in the 21st century? After all, we have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, asylum rights enshrined in national laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and endless media coverage of suffering, scared refugees and migrants calculated to evoke sympathy and empathy.
But the long lines are still there; few make it to the safety they seek. Why?
Amelia Frank-Vitale is an anthropologist with years of experience studying migration in Honduras and Mexico. She's also an activist who's interested in the migrants as people, not as plaintiffs or pawns in a political drama. Listen as she discusses what it takes to walk from Honduras to Texas, and the tragedies along the way.
Do you think your country should allow more migrants and whether you would welcome them to your neighborhood?
Next Episode
Rising China Plants a Flag in the Middle East
April 27, 2023
•35m
Early last month, there was an extraordinary announcement. Saudi Arabia and Iran had agreed to resume diplomatic relations after seven years of more or less open hostility. Even more extraordinary was the person standing between the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, Wang Yi, China's most senior foreign policy official. His statement that day said it all: "This is a victory for dialogue, a victory for peace, major positive news for a world, which is currently so turbulent and restive. And it sends a clear signal."
It was also a victory for China’s rise as a great global power. The United States has shaped Middle Eastern geopolitics—for better and for worse—since Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy in the 70s. But long-time American client Saudi Arabia recognized that only China could deliver Iran to the negotiating table and, perhaps, assure its future good behavior at least vis-à-vis the Saudis.
What does it all mean? A new Middle Eastern order? The end of the Sunni-Shia conflict? Will the new relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia last? And, what about Israel, not mentioned in the Beijing press conference, but obviously the 800-pound gorilla in the room?
The conceit of this podcast is New Thinking for a New World, which certainly describes what was announced in Beijing. Yasmine Farouk is a student of Middle Eastern diplomacy, focused on Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf. She is a non-resident scholar in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Listen as she discusses the implications of this revolutionary development.
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