We are currently witnessing a war of words between two spoiled brats: our volatile commander in chief and North Korea’s grandstanding autocrat. It would be a laughable interlude except for the fact that this could easily degenerate into a nuclear war.
There is no doubt that in a war between North Korea and the United States, the US would prevail; but at what cost? While the two halfwits at the top might survive, thousands of people would surely perish.
And who knows what might follow? World War One was ignited by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Armageddon unexpectedly followed.
“The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was more than 41 million. There were over 18 million deaths and 23 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians.”
“Speak softly and carry a big stick” was once Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy precept. Any well-read individual knows and probably agrees with that; but is our present leader well-read? Or does he read at all? Besides authoring a book (written by somebody else) and sponsoring beauty contests, this remains very much in doubt.
Bombast and blustering never accomplished anything constructive. Let diplomats deal with each other quietly and cut out the juvenile cyberbullying.
Where are the great diplomats of yesteryear for crying out loud? Where are the Talleyrand, Benjamin Franklin, Henri Kissinger, Dag Hammarskjöld, Golda Meir, Abba Eban… the very people who valued peace and thought that diplomacy was preferable to whistling bullets?
An ignominious exit usually follows a populist leader who gets ensnared in his web of deceit. Let us hope that this happens way before the unthinkable occurs.
Alain
PS: Due to a request from Marc’s family, the previous posting (In Memoriam) was removed.