Are the democratic values championed by Europe and the United States destined to fall under the expansionist fury of Eastern autocrats like Khamenei, Putin, Xi Jinping, and Erdogan? Jean-François Colosimo, author of “The West, Global Enemy No. 1” (Albin Michel), and Amin Maalouf, who examines the roots of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in “The Maze of the Lost: The West and its Adversaries” (Grasset), prompt a necessary reflection on this topic.
On 9 March, a Brazilian plane landed on the tarmac at Algiers airport. Its holds were reportedly full of doses of vaccine delivered by Israel. Algeria is already supplied with Russian Sputnik and Chinese Sinopharm vaccines, which is not surprising. Health logic follows diplomatic logic. But Israel! The country most vilified by the Algerian media, the target of all the conspiracy theories! Is the information, broadcast by the I24 news channel, which broadcasts from Tel Aviv in French, English and Arabic, serious? Even if it is only a rumour, it has the advantage of making people think.
The Ottoman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to reweave the nationalist fibre, through external provocation, because he is weakened on the inside by a sluggish economy and growing unpopularity. It is a dangerous game because he wants to project himself beyond his borders and is once again seeking to settle scores with his historical Armenian enemies, whose genocide in 1915 was caused by Turkey. Which Erdogan denies. And that is a shame.
The Covid crisis has highlighted the need to relocate what is essential, such as food and drug production. In the Middle East, it is clear that the supply of basic foodstuffs depends heavily, and increasingly so, on international markets, as arable land and water resources are becoming increasingly scarce.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan wants to show the great powers that he has his say in the redistribution of the cards in the Middle East and in the resolution of conflicts in the region, at a time, moreover, when the world order that emerged from 1945, the end of the Second World War, has become obsolete.
After 4 years of Trumpism, with their succession of repetitive tweets, fads, unpredictabilities, inconsistencies, the new American president should be called Hercules Biden, as the files that Donald Trump left him, in foreign policy, are so many colossal challenges to be taken up. These files are named: Iran, Russia, Turkey, China, North Korea, Afghanistan & Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Russian President hates popular revolts in the former USSR. Whether it is Belarus today, or Armenia in 2018. The Velvet Revolution brought Nikol Pachinian to power. However, the current Prime Minister dares to criticise the Eurasian Economic Union, built around Russia, and is not indifferent to the sirens of the European Union.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched nearly 5 years ago with much fanfare. However, over the last few years, the progress of the CPEC has been hampered by questions on the economic viability of these protests for Pakistan, China’s increasingly intrusive presence in the country and huge environmental concerns.
The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic differ from one region of the world to another. They are most keenly felt in conflict areas where public healthcare systems have collapsed or are severely compromised. The greatest risk is that existing tensions and conflicts, such as those in the Middle East, might be heightened. The stability of this region, that stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Maghreb, is essential for economic and security balance in the world.
