2024, Olympic year. 2024, 150th anniversary of the birth of Winston Churchill. A priori, it is difficult to make the link between the two given the lifestyle of the man who responded, according to legend, to those who questioned him about the secret of his longevity and his inexhaustible energy, “No sports!”, n had none of the asceticism of the Olympic champion…
And yet, there is indeed the Olympic spirit in Churchill: is it not Churchillian as hell, the motto of the Games, which Pierre de Coubertin adopted in 1894, on the occasion of the creation of the International Olympic Committee: “Citius, altius, fortius” ? “Faster, higher, stronger”. A motto, which would not have been denied by the one who, in his first autobiographical work, My young yearsapostrophizes the youth of 1930: “You don’t have an hour to lose. You must take your place on the front lines of life. […] March against the new enemies who constantly gather in front of the army of humanity and who just need to be attacked to defeat. Never take no for an answer. Never resign yourself to failure.”
This exhortation must not only be addressed to young people in 2024, but to all French people and all Europeans. And the Olympic motto must go beyond athletics tracks or stadium walls to be those of all citizens. Because 2024 will also be a decisive year, marked by crucial elections, in Europe and in the United States among others, and punctuated by the battles, fundamental for the future of European security, which are taking place in the East of the continent. The challenge for 2024 is, for France as for its European allies, not to suffer.
The President of the Republic underlined this in his New Year’s greetings: “It’s up to us to choose rather than suffer, it’s up to us to chart the course rather than follow.” The Churchillian accent is obvious: it now remains, as the illustrious British Prime Minister knew how to do, to align the action with the word. And there… France and Europe are too slow, particularly in sectors that structure the long term, such as defense and energy.
The slow tempo of the State
The rise of the defense industrial apparatus is too slow: twenty-two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, France will only be able to produce 20,000 shells per year in 2024. The State notes this but it is up to him to take the lead in supporting the defense industry with orders. It is true that, when he is at the same time concerned with financing the repair of socks, the step is high…
The rise of our civil nuclear policy is also too slow: twenty-four months after the Belfort speech, the State announces, promises, promotes but we are still waiting for orders for new reactors and, just as much, for structuring decisions in fuel cycle matter. At a time when the United States is unveiling the start of production of three uranium mines in Arizona and Utah, which will operate at full capacity in 2024, soon followed by two other mines in Colorado and Wyoming, we are not not at the right pace, due to a State that is far too slow.
The challenge ? Defeat “the new enemies”
But decide, act, act quickly, do these words still have meaning in a country where even micro-reforms like that of pensions bring hundreds of thousands of people into the streets? At the start of the year, a proposal: let’s do like Gramsci, let’s be “pessimistic [s] with intelligence, but optimistic [s] by will”. After all, if the spire of Notre-Dame soars again into the sky of Paris, less than five years after the dramatic fire which almost brought it down, perhaps “Faster, higher, stronger” can become the new national slogan in 2024, and beyond. It is about the credibility of the political function, the sustainability of the model of liberal democracy and our ability to undo.” the new enemies who are constantly regrouping before the army of humanity” that Churchill mentioned in 1930.
Because, let us make no mistake, in Moscow, Beijing or Tehran, the Olympic motto is well understood, even if reinterpreted and disfigured by the scrapping of the values that support it: excellence, friendship, respect.
Cécile Maisonneuve is founder of Decysive and advisor to the Ifri Energy and Climate Center
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