Posted on 11/09/2018 3:29:39 PM PST by yesthatjallen
On November 11, 1918, the Armistice of Compiègne brought an end to the bloodshed of World War I, one of history’s most devastating conflicts. In the aftermath of the war, tens of millions lay dead and tens of millions more injured or displaced. With the cessation of hostilities, finally, came a glimmer of peace. The war to end all wars had drawn to an end, and a better world seemed within reach.
A century later, the one hundredth anniversary of the armistice brings a period of reflection. With the centenary imminent, French President Emmanuel Macron has embarked on a weeklong tour of remembrance, featuring meetings with top dignitaries as well as visits to some of World War I’s most important sites. The commemorations are set to culminate this Sunday in the kickoff of a new annual gathering, the Paris Peace Forum. Envisioned as a call to arms for global action, the three-day forum could provide a much-needed boost to the liberal order in an era of conspicuous nationalism.
Macron, the event’s chief patron, has emphasized two words in his public outreach: “Never again.” These words, he explained in July, were the promise made a century ago—that the world should never again experience such calamity. In convening thousands of the planet’s leading voices, including high-level representatives from more than eighty countries, Macron has committed himself and his allies to a similar pledge. The Paris Peace Forum, in the French president’s mind, offers the opportunity to “reinvent multilateralism” and ensure that “peace gains ground every day.” Democracy and international cooperation, though in doubt, can persevere.
Macron’s aspirational rhetoric hews to both the spirit of armistice and the demands of a complex and interconnected world. While international conflict akin to World War I seems a remote prospect today, a staggering array of global challenges threatens to undermine peace in the years ahead. Last month’s report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change spelled out in no uncertain terms the environmental catastrophe that awaits in the absence of concerted international effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate global temperature rise. This, along with ongoing biodiversity loss, pronounced economic inequality, an apparent return to great power competition, and a sea of other troubles, amounts to a world under siege.
At the same time, nationalists have taken the reins of power across much of the West, and beyond. The “America First” policies of the Donald J. Trump administration have contributed to the decline of U.S. leadership and a cracking international order. Europe, meanwhile, contends with uncertain Brexit negotiations, a Schengen Area within which several nations have reintroduced border controls, and a populist governing coalition driving Italy toward the fiscal brink. All of this comes at a time when German Chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed her impending abdication, leaving the European Union and liberal internationalism in desperate need of a champion.
The Paris Peace Forum, then, arrives at a pivotal moment. For all its benefits, globalization has produced a galaxy of cross-border challenges and to a large degree stoked the nationalist sentiment now bedeviling the liberal order. Mobilizing a constituency for international action, as the forum promises to do, has never been a more pressing goal. A powerful set of backers, in the form of Macron and the numerous partners enlisted, has devoted considerable resources to accomplishing this objective. With many of the world’s most influential individuals slated to speak or attend, the forum could well rally support for liberal internationalism.
Success, however, is far from assured. Macron’s popular image as a would-be monarch, as well as his plummeting approval ratings at home and uninspiring track record on EU reform, leaves his ability to serve as upholder of the liberal order in doubt. Moreover, the Paris Peace Forum suffers from a serious lack of momentum. Trump plans to skip the forum, and lackluster marketing has made for a major international gathering of which few are aware, an inauspicious sign for an event intended to galvanize support for collective action. The fanfare associated with the centenary should give the forum at least some time in the limelight, as should opening remarks from Merkel and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The cloud hanging over the former of these figures, however, could bode ill for an initiative that looks in some ways to be faltering in its inaugural year. A brief bout of public attention may not suffice.
As the Paris Peace Forum gets underway, echoes of the past are sure to reverberate. While the armistice has remained a symbol of hope over the years, history has been far less kind to the accords that followed. The Paris Peace Conference, which led to the Treaty of Versailles and the formal conclusion of World War I, has come to be known as a diplomatic misadventure, one that laid the groundwork for the rise of fascism and the Second World War. The better part of a century ago, the promise of peace proved fleeting, as “never again” gave way to the dissolution of order and the return of war. Paris will soon play host to another historic gathering. With the world again at a crossroads, peace cannot afford to fail.
Kyle Evanoff is a research associate focused on international economics and United States foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Council of Foreign Relations admits they want a [liberal] New World Order.
The Council of Foreign Relations is actively looking for a leaders for their [liberal] New World Order.
no. because even in France his worldview has lost momentum.
Macron is very unpopular in France right now. He probably won’t be re-elected.
This should be an interesting thread.
She is a modern day Joan of Arc. I will pray for her.
Here's their new flag.
How does Hitler’s dream of a socialist world order differ from the liberal one? Liberals just call Hitler right-wing so that makes them different.
The Council of Foreign Relations wants a [liberal] New World Order and they're looking for their great leader.
Macron is an excellent candidate for the anti-Christ.
He’s just a pea in a garbage disposal and PDJT is the garbage disposal (3/4 hp, no less)...good luck with that woosie boy.
Shallow b.s. from a CFR dweeb. If the 20th century proved anything it is that vapid liberal platitudes about internationalism are worse than useless in the face of ruthless adversaries.
No, bc he is a SoyBoy Beta Male
YES! :) I pray for her also!
That poster, at The Hill comment board, Pittsburgdad is in serious need of history lessons.
Non!
What even GIVES THEM THE RIGHT to establish a “World Order”?
GOD? Don’t think so, they hate God.
Hubris and Evil do
Reminds me of Donald Tusk.
Everybody in Poland hates the guy, but he’s the darling of the EU.
Europeans have already allowed too many muslims into Europe and their demoraphic clock is counting down to the time almost all of Europe will be dominated by muslims.
Mark Steyn has written two books that lay out the demographics and shows why the die has already been cast for much of the western world.
(copies of both available on ABE Books and eBay for under $4 each)
AMERICA ALONE: The End of the World As We Know It
The future, as Steyn shows, belongs to the fecund and the confident. And the Islamists are both, while the West is looking ever more like the ruins of a civilization. But America can survive, prosper, and defend its freedom only if it continues to believe in itself, in the sturdier virtues of self-reliance (not government), in the centrality of family, and in the conviction that our country really is the world's last best hope. Mark Steyn's America Alone is laugh-out-loud funny--but it will also change the way you look at the world.
AFTER AMERICA: Get Ready for Armageddon
Steyn argues there is still hope. "Americans face a choice: you can rediscover the animating principles of the American idea—of limited government, a self-reliant citizenry, and the opportunities to exploit your talents to the fullest—or you can join most of the rest of the western world in terminal decline. This is a battle for the American idea, and it's an epic one, but you can do anything you want to do. So do it."
Very good point.
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