Macron, the lonely Europeanist
French president’s moment of truth for Europe has arrived with sudden and shocking morbidity.
William Drozdiak is nonresident senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at The Brookings Institution and the author of “The Last President of Europe: Emmanuel Macron’s Race to Revive France and Save the World” ( Hachette/PublicAffairs, April 2020).
When I met with Emmanuel Macron last September, the youthful French president appeared on the brink of despair. He was struggling in vain to persuade other European leaders to coalesce behind a strategic vision that would ensure Europe could defend its future interests in a resurgent big-power rivalry with Russia, China and the United States.
His impatience showed as he described his frustrations in getting other European leaders to share his urgency in preparing for the next big crisis to test Europe.
“A quoi bon? A quoi bon?” he said, mimicking the response from his fellow leaders in the European Union.
They had just emerged from three agonizing years negotiating the departure of the United Kingdom. Europe was comfortably affluent, the challenge from far-right nationalists appeared to be receding, and any immediate threats from outside powers seemed reasonably well-contained.
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Πηγή: politico.eu
