In medieval cartography, it was common to draw mythological creatures in areas still unexplored by man: “Hic Sunt Dracones” added the cartographers – literally: “here are the dragons” – to signal the entry into the unknown, and therefore, the danger. The formula could, unfortunately, be a good slogan for 2024.
Where are we going ? Something seems to have deviated from the rails on which the West expected to see History progress, with its hiccups, its detours, but – hain-caha – the establishment of world peace. February 23, 2022. October 7, 2023. Something has moved. But it is sometimes with History as with railway sidings, if we feel that something has changed, it is still too early to know to what extent. We lack perspective and a sense of History.
Where are we going ? Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, liberal democracies had convinced themselves that their principles would eventually spread, through the attractiveness of the rule of law and the consumer society. China, Russia, Iran and others are not only debunking this prediction, but the threats are piling up. In Ukraine, Taiwan, the Middle East. These new torments of the world come after decades of weakening of our societies, entangled in various evils: failing meritocracy, crisis of representative democracy, angry working classes, hyper individualism eroding the common good, passion for mea culpa, glorification of particular identities, losses of sovereignty… This is how 2024 grips us.
Where are we going ? Western countries are now largely populated by citizens who have not experienced war. We are in many ways virgins of History. However, faced with the clouds which are accumulating, faced with the repercussions, here, of the conflicts there – and in particular in the Middle East –, more and more of us are asking ourselves: “Does History give warning signs before something goes wrong?” Does she knock “Madame H” before entering? Of course, we restrain ourselves. We try not to give in to cheap grandiloquence. How many times have we heard about the “return of tragedy” on TV sets, before moving on to the next subject (the French preparing for their vacation)? The comfort of our sofas in the living room seems immutable. Liberal democracy, the air we breathe. But in recent months, we can’t help but wonder: do we know how to defend them?
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