Cocktail of current events: between war, empires and French fractures

At a time when algorithms dictate their dance, is it reasonable to shake up a few events in the shaker of an article? By fastening Sunday with Saturday, the suit risks tipping slightly. Let’s go on this adventure anyway.

Revisiting the past to shed light on present conflicts

The first step is a reading. “De sable et d’acier”, a book published in French two years ago in the Folio histoire collection. It’s a sum written by Peter Caddick-Adams, a British historian, about the June 44 landings. A tremendous work that is devoured, an ocean of 1500 pages where each wave captivates us, it invites us to reflect on our time. On a global level first, since it is the immense logistical effort, as well as the political alliance, that led to the success of such an operation. In a particular way secondly: because at every moment we find lessons for today in the past. When we read this observation from an English anti-Nazi writer who, despite adopting German nationality through marriage in 1934, was in Berlin: “I learned when I was in Berlin that these gratuitous and quite impersonal killings, these air raids that mutilate, stifle, burn, and destroy, elicit less fear and desire to lower one’s head in front of the hurricane, than a certain fatalistic exasperation, a tenacious determination to survive and, if possible, to help others survive, regardless of their political opinions, regardless of their faith”, how can we not question the effectiveness of current military operations in the Middle East? Of course, we would like Iranians to come out of their ruined homes and hold the Mullahs responsible for the destruction they are suffering. Alas, that is not the course of events in progress.

The return of empires and the challenge for democracies

The second step is a documentary. Jean-François Colosimo presents on France 5 “Le monde en face – Les empires contre-attaquent.” After recalling the events of the twentieth century, which are well-known, the theologian-philosopher remarkably alerts us to the threats facing Western democracies. By emphasizing that repressing the religious fact, following paths very far from traditional models, our societies provoke a backlash, the power of autocracies led by empires – Russians, Chinese, Turks, Iranians – relying on multi-secular dogmas, Jean-François Colosimo goes against contemporary orthodoxies. Certainly, he risks being seen as a conservative thinker. But that is not the case. Lucid, he provides the key to his reasoning in the final minutes of his film: European democracies, because they have experienced, in the last century, the inhumanity of our humanity, can still embody the future. But faced with the return of empires, they will have to show courage and firmness on their principles and not on illusions, however benevolent they may be.

The radical temptation against a backdrop of demanding protection

The third step is the publication of the major survey conducted by the Ipsos Institute for Le Monde, Cevipof, the Jean Jaurès Foundation, and the Montaigne Institute: “Fractures françaises 2025”. “In French society as a whole, radicalism remains a minority but powerful and, above all, dynamic,” says Gilles Finchelstein, secretary of the Jean Jaurès Foundation commenting on this publication. In the space of radicalism, there is a paradox. At the top, LFI wants to highlight its radicalism and the RN wants to blur it. At the base, the opposite situation prevails: the radicalism of the far right is stronger than that of the radical left. Certainly… But what are such radicalisms based on? When the same survey reveals that our fellow citizens are demanding above all a better healthcare system, an increase in their purchasing power, is it not primarily a lack of security that our fellow citizens are suffering from? Capable of questioning themselves more than often said, the French, like many other Europeans, expect their institutions to offer them real protection.

Europe facing doubt and the need for fraternity

More than forty years have passed since European integration began. Initially, the promise of the Union was dreamy because it was a projection of peoples into an inventive and supportive future. Today, skepticism and rejection dominate everywhere. Everywhere? Really? The defeat of Viktor Orban, which we are rejoicing in, proves that the European Union still attracts. But let’s not conclude that ultra-liberalism, including in the field of values, has triumphed. It is also for better protection that the Hungarians voted this Sunday. The citizens of our continent want to be better protected, better heard, better taken into account. They are not all dumb, timid, almost childish, these millions of Europeans who throw themselves into the arms of populists. They want to feel some warmth around their shoulders.

Back in Normandy. On the beaches, side by side, from all social, religious, ethnic backgrounds – one must read what Caddick-Adams says about racial segregation in America as seen by the British – yes, from all conditions, young lads stormed the Nazi fortress. Courage in the service of others? Let’s call it “Fraternity.”

Read: Peter Caddick-Adams: “De sable et d’acier, nouvelle histoire du Débarquement”, Folio histoire, 1584 p. 16.30 euros.