🇫🇷Falling governments
Commenting on Barnier’s government collapse, Assad’s Syrian dictatorship has fallen, and Notre-Dame de Paris officially opens, attended by Macron, Trump, Zelenskyy, and more.
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This week
🌪️Commenting on Barnier’s government collapse
🇸🇾Assad’s Syrian dictatorship has fallen
⛪Notre-Dame de Paris officially opens
🌪️Commenting on Barnier’s government collapse
As part of a shorter Weekly Dispatch due to several reasons, let’s start the week off with the biggest news: the chaotic scenes that unravelled earlier this week, as Michel Barnier’s government collapsed following a censure vote that followed his use of Article 49.3 to pass the budget.
As you’ve all certainly read more than enough across the internet, I wanted to quickly drop in two interviews that I was requested for by CNN Portugal, explaining my thinking on the collapse, and what comes next:
The first, talking about what exactly happened and where the faults/problems lie/
The second, is about what I think is going to happen next, and who the next potential Prime Ministers could be:
Let me know what you guys think below!
🇸🇾Assad’s Syrian dictatorship has fallen
So, this is very much not the usual kind of inclusion in your Weekly Dispatch (not yet anyway), but the event is simply too monumental to ignore.
Having raged for 13 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, it appears that we may have reached the end of the Syrian Civil War, the end of the Assad dynasty, and yet another severe weakening of the Russia-Iran axis of authoritarian dictatorships.
Beginning in 1970, when Hafez al-Assad seized power, the state built a regime not unlike that in North Korea, based entirely on an enforced cult of personality, incredibly powerful state police, and aggressive propaganda.
Of course, as in many other countries where this kind of scenario builds, you see an abundance of corruption, repression, discrimination, and police brutality being put forward.
This, naturally, led the Syrian people to take part in the Arab Spring, the brutal crushing of the Syrian revolution, and the civil war that has continued up until, apparently, today.
While I implore you guys to read up on this catastrophe from better sources than me, the war appeared to be in a stalemate until 27 November, when Syrian opposition groups launched a major offensive across the country and, in a lightning offensive, captured Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and several other major towns and cities until they took Aleppo early this morning.
While nobody will be able to tell yet whether any of this will make things better or worse for Syrians in the long run, the simple reality is that Syrians have suffered for decades at the hands of an authoritarian regime that was almost entirely propped up by actors such as Russia and Iran.
With Syrians currently celebrating the end of the Assad dynasty’s 53 years of oppressive rule, we should put aside our hesitance and stand with the Syrian people right now, and we should celebrate the fact that people are able to regain some form of normalcy and hope in otherwise brutal lives.
⛪Notre-Dame de Paris officially opens
To add to the good news, Saturday 7 December saw the opening ceremony of the renewed and rebuilt Notre-Dame de Paris, an iconic piece of French history, culture, and a part of our identity as a nation.
With a lot of the event being put into question due to the dangers and problems posed by Storm Darragh, Paris was still treated to the spectacle that was Notre-Dame de Paris’ reopening its doors to an audience of 2,400
The original plans for a major outdoor celebration to be shown globally on television, ended up becoming much more human, intimate, affair, with a mix of average individuals, French high society, patrons, restoration workers and influential global political actors.
Naturally, this meant that security was tight, with a full lockdown on the Île de la Cité area and north of 6000 personnel on duty, But despite with so many major donors nearby, there was a clear sense of calm and peace at the event.
But the ceremony wasn’t just about the building—it came against a backdrop of political drama happening across the world
Michel Barnier’s government collapsed earlier this week, thanks to the political machinations of the far-left and far-right, with Emmanuel Macron announcing that he refused to step down, and would stay until 2027 before announcing he would name a new Prime Minister ‘in the coming days’
On top of this, you had a divisive visit by Donald Trump, and his eternal hanger-on, Elon Musk, with Macron having personally invited the incoming American President to relaunch a new relationship with the
Then there was perhaps one of the biggest ongoing political events is currently the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which made Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the Notre-Dame that much special. as he entered, he was applauded in a full-on standing ovation that reverberated through the space.
With this event being an important opportunity for France to shine globally and for Emmanuel Macron to work his magic, speak to important leaders, and, most importantly, liaise with Zelenskyy and Trump, it was incredibly important that the event go off without a hitch and that it was seen as a success.
Fortunately, for everybody involved, it was, and the French President’s ability to bring together all of these various actors was a striking win, and most notably, his ability to bring the future American President and the Ukrainian president together at a key moment in world history.
With Assad’s dictatorship having collapsed, Russia’s geopolitical position is severely weakened, Russia continuing to stall in Ukraine, and Trumpian threats to potentially sell out Zelenskyy’s people, there was no better moment to try to break the impasse and to bring Donald Trump into alignment with the European Union and other key allies.
But let’s see if it works out.
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Let us not forget that Barack Obama's refusal to enforce his own red line created the opportunity for Putin to support Bashar al Assad's brutal regime with levels of extreme bombing. Nor how in earlier years French President Sarkozy fêted Assad at 14th July celebrations, nor how the West more generally did likewise. It was we who prepared the way for Iran and Hezbollah and for Russia. Will be do better now?
Congrats on the CNN ;)