L'Outrage and the surprise expressed by Europeans in the speech of the American vice-president, J. D. Vance, the Munich Conference on Security, February 14, are problematic: the messages sent by Donald Trump and his administration since his election as election November did not leave any doubt about the radical developments to come. European leadership seemed to have remained on the image of the first Trumpian presidency, made of provocations and excess of language, but with limited repercussions.
Since then, improvisation has been transformed into a political project. The provocative populism of the old businessman and star of the “reality show” at the Berlusconi gave way to a consolidated, theorized and ready -to -use illiberalism. This illiberalism is not content to criticize liberal and progressive values, it advances a real political project, based on a solid and coherent ideological base of which JD Vance has made the cantor.
It can be summarized as follows: the sovereignty of the nation state is essential and cannot be limited by laws or supranational institutions; Society cannot operate without moral authority, and this authority can lead to forms of authoritarianism against democratic institutions if these are deemed dysfunctional or “captured” by the “WOKE” elites; The laws must be made for the majority, not for minorities; Societies must be culturally homogeneous, foreigners can integrate by accepting assimilation, but not by asking for multiculturalism; Individuals are not white maps in terms of identity, but are petris of history and geography, identity markers which must be protected and valued; Cultural standards in family, sex and gender cannot evolve quickly.
On the international level, Vance also sketches a new illiberal order marked by the return of power. The powerful of this world are in competition and in negotiations to discuss the future of the planet; The little ones adapt to the limited room for maneuver assigned to them. Negotiations ignore moral values and international law, judged to be ideologically in favor of progressive liberalism and contrary to national interests. Relations between states are transactional and ad hoc: we dialogue on a subject, we confront another. Ideological affinities can exist between leaders, but they do not guarantee a strategic alignment of the countries. Accelerationism, that is to say the idea that speed is necessary to shake the status quo, makes it possible to take short the competitors.
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Source: Lemonde