– These red lines that democracy struggles to manage
Faced with regimes governed by force, Western countries are often difficult to impose their point of view.
Jacques Brochon – Retired management consultant
Posted today at 6:46 a.m.
No doubt: democracy is the most difficult system ever invented. In summary, this consists of providing human and responsible responses to the primitive (but eternal) instincts of us Homo sapiens. It is so much easier and more rewarding (for those in power) to rule by force. The opponent can quickly be neutralized or eliminated.
Democracy certainly wants to legislate and regulate, but also strive towards justice and equal opportunities. Rather than ostracize, dismiss, punish or break, Democrats want to explain, train and prevent. We see the proportion of suspended sentences in our countries.
“Leaders consider democracy a sport for care bears.”
A laudable intention that can quickly become counterproductive. Because there are people who don’t want to take a second chance, and also leaders who consider democracy a sport for care bears.
Of course, democracies have a backbone and also know how to tighten up in the face of the excesses of dictators or profiteers of all kinds. But in their own way, which a priori excludes open conflict. We set a red line by saying that if it is exceeded, “we will see what we will see”. A bit like those parents who tell their child that if he continues, he will receive a spanking… which never comes, which authorizes him to behave even more unpleasantly.
Democratic leaders have an unfortunate tendency to behave like dads: explaining, moralizing, thinking that things will work out. By projecting their own values, they think that the opponent has a good background. But he also projects himself and becomes more and more certain of the weakness of these moralizers.
A textbook case: the red line set by Obama to el-Assad in Syria: no chemical weapons, otherwise… It is proven that the Syrian dictator has widely used them against his own people. Obama’s reaction: none.
For the spectator, Putin is the definitive proof: the West (totally dependent on the United States) is a care bear. He can then let go: a little blow not far from home (Georgia): it works. Syria, Africa with Wagner, Crimea follow. No reaction from Westerners. It is time for him to get down to business: Ukraine, cradle of old Russia, breadbasket of Europe.
Traumatized generations
Assessment of Obama’s lack of courage (hidden under the mask of a Democrat) and our willful blindness: hundreds of thousands of deaths, a generation of traumatized children for whom violence is a banality that they risk exporting in countries where they will be forced to emigrate to survive.
Democracy remains the most intelligent system. But intelligence is above all understanding what is happening and taking the necessary measures. By mobilizing adequate means for those who have neither values nor limits. The older an autocratic regime is, the more vertical it becomes, with the same solidity as that of a house of cards where we know that the breaking point is not at the base but at the top.
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
0 comments
