The Paris Peace Forum met earlier this week; fortunately, we didn’t send any government representative to it. National sovereignty, this claque held, is a danger to the world.
French President Macron advocated for multilateralism and a “balanced cooperation” between the nations.
Balanced cooperation is good, but that requires not the open borders and come one, come all—no matter who the one or the all are—but coalitions built for specific times and purposes. And those coalitions, even treaties between or among States requires…nation-states with actual borders, nation-states with internal, coherent cultures, nation-states that put their own interests first.
Easy immigration, certainly, but immigrant prospects who are carefully vetted before they’re allowed in, immigrant prospects committed to assimilating into the culture of the nation they wish to enter and become a part of.
National sovereignty, nationalism.
Emmanuel Macron doesn’t want this.
… unilateralism is “very risky. … Nationalism is war.”
Never mind that balanced cooperation requires nations actually to be willing to cooperate with each other to do something that’s necessary. The necessary thing needs doing, though, whether or not nations are willing to cooperate, and that requires, occasionally, unilateralism. Occasions like Iran, openly and bluntly committed to the destroying Israel and supporting terrorism throughout the world, rapidly pursuing nuclear weapons—while Europe not only stands by, but actively funds Iran’s effort with trade and efforts to circumvent unilaterally applied economic sanctions.
Occasions like the People’s Republic of China seizing and occupying the South China Sea, with only the US willing even a little bit to object, the PRC’s economic, intellectual property, and technology thefts while Europe not only stands by, but actively seeks out new trade deals with the PRC.
Occasions like Russia occupying and partitioning parts of Georgia and Ukraine, engaging in cyber war against each of the Baltic States, deploys tactical and intermediate range nuclear weapons on its western border while Europe stands by and watches—and actively facilitates Russia’s ability to export natural gas to…Europe.
But nationalism, putting one’s own nation ahead of an amorphous multiculturally international entity is anathema.
This is who one of our putative friends is.