A CIVILIZED MILLENNIUM

With most respect for the French Presidency, I allow myself to take apart some words of President Emmanuel Macron before the United Nations as they inspire what lies behind that which is called CIVILIZATION. SDMM

“…Ladies and gentlemen, behind each of our decisions there are voices and lives, there is the invisible parade of those we must defend, because one day we were defended ourselves. Why do we not hear these voices more, these voices that call out? Why are we no longer capable of doing what, 70 years ago, restored all mankind’s ability to believe in itself, global responsibility, the taste for mutual assistance and faith in progress? And yes, when I talk about Bana, Ousmane, Kouamé or Jules, I am speaking about my fellow citizens, your fellow citizens, every single one of them, for our interests and our security are also theirs! We are inextricably bound together in a community of destinies, for today and tomorrow. So global balances have, of course, profoundly changed in recent years. The world has once again become multipolar, meaning that we need to relearn both the complexity of dialogue and its fruitfulness…"

"…But the challenge today, for our generation, is to rebuild that multilateralism. It is to explain that today, in the current state of the world, there is nothing more effective than multilateralism. Why? Because all our challenges are global, such as terrorism, migration, global warming and regulation of the digital sector. All these issues can only be addressed globally, and multilaterally. Each time we consent to circumvent multilateralism, we hand victory to the law of the strongest. Because yes, my friends, if we are to enshrine our vision of the world, we can only do that through multilateralism. Because this vision is universal. It is not regional. Because every time we have given in to those who say that the role of women was a matter for the few, in a certain part of the world, but not for others, or that equality between citizens was a matter for one civilization, but not another, we have abandoned what has brought us here together in this place and the universality of these values. There too, in certain countries, we have given in to the law of the strongest."

"…not listening to the voices of the oppressed, of victims, means allowing their misfortune to grow and develop until the day it strikes us all. It means forgetting that we have all, at a moment in our history, been the oppressed, and that others have heard our voices. It means forgetting that our security is their security, that their lives affect ours and that we have no chance of coming out unscathed when the world is in flames.

Not listening to those who appeal for our help means believing that we are protected by walls and borders. But it is not our walls that protect us. It is our will to act, and to influence the course of history. It is our refusal to accept that history will be written without us, while we believe we are safe. What protects us is our sovereignty and the sovereign exercise of our strength in support of progress. That is the independence of nations in the context of our interdependence.

Not listening to these voices means believing that their misery is not our own. That we will forever possess the goods that they can only dream of. But when that good is the planet, when it is peace, justice or freedom, do you think we can enjoy it alone, and apart? If we do not stand up for these common goods, we will all be wiped out. We are allowing fires to break out into which, tomorrow, history will throw our own children.

Yes, today even more than before, our common goods are also our interests and our security, and their security too. There cannot be, on the one hand, the irenicism of those who believe in the rule of law and multilateralism and, on the other, the pragmatism of certain unilateralists. That is false.

Our real effectiveness is at play in this conflict, here. So, with you, I believe today in a strong and responsible multilateralism. That is the responsibility of our generation, if we are not to give in to fatalism. We need only one form of courage, ladies and gentlemen: that of hearing these voices, that of not deviating from the trace we need to leave in history, and that, at all times, of considering that we have to reconcile our interests and values, our security and the planet’s common goods. Our generation has no choice, for it has to speak for today and for tomorrow.”

Taken from France Diplomatic, Sept 20, 2017