He is hell-bent on expanding Russia, and a small reprimand from Macron and co. ’ Then, as now, this view totally excludes the possibility of removing him from power and fails to grip with the fact that as in Crimea, a small territorial concession by the West will be spun as a victory by Putin. ‘Putin may be a scoundrel, but since he will remain in power, let's allow him some leeway and integrate Russia into the European eco-system to rein him in a bit. It would do him good instead to reflect on the widespread political consensus, which emerged in the last 20 years and has led us to this crisis:
Macron fancies himself as a historian (and as a philosopher, artist, economist, virologist and a scientist), drawing sweeping parallels between the consequences of Versailles to the future predicament of our relationship with Russia. But imagine the glee on Putin's face, when some sycophant delivered the message that Macron had publicly urged Zelensky to seriously consider peace talks, at a time when momentum was in Ukraine’s favour, in effect offering Putin an off-ramp without any serious repercussions. The conflict is complex, there is a serious threat of nuclear weapons being deployed, and the sad reality is that the war itself and the ensuing consequences will stretch well into the future. Of course, one should dampen the urge to view these matters as a binary choice between appeasement or an outright defeat. And he has double-downed on this approach in recent weeks dialing up Putin at every possible juncture, urging the rest of Europe to spare Putin of “ humiliation” and telling Ukraine: “ At some point, we will have to negotiate with Russia!“. The numerous phone-calls made to the Kremlin (the figure of 100 hours in total has been touted) hasn’t stopped Russia from anything. The similarities became apparent before the war even broke out, when he conducted diplomatic efforts without the consultation of other nations, believing that his own personal authority and the grandeur of French diplomacy carried enough weight to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. This has given him cachet in the eyes of many experts and spectators of European politics.īut at this present moment, you can’t help but get a Neville Chamberlain-appeasement vibe from him. It hardly takes a touch of genius to conclude that America in recent years has become untrustworthy, but Macron has been vocal in his vision of an independent European foreign and military policy, an idea which at the time seemed fanciful, but is showing itself to be acute, and increasingly possible.
Long before the war in Ukraine however, Macron did show remarkable foresight in his analysis of the shifting power dynamics seen throughout the West. But if he succeeds in playing a vital role in the conclusion of the war and in mitigating the aftermath, he will thoroughly cement his place in history, following the path of his great heroes… But for all the lyrical waxing about his capabilities as a statesman, the reality is that his political fortunes are depleting at a rapid rate, with his handling of the crisis in Ukraine being suspect, to say the least. The slayer of Le Pen, the saviour of Europe, could now help shape the new world order for years to come, the political commentariat told us. When a crazed Putin is causing havoc and looming economic doom is upon us, it was reassuring to see Macron returning to power. You couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as president.
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