Our boilerplate introduction to the writer:
...The author of this piece, David Goldman, is Deputy Editor (Business) at Asia Times.
Prior to taking that position he was:
- Global head of credit strategy at Credit Suisse
- Global Head of Fixed Income Research for Bank of America
- Global Head of Fixed Income Research at Cantor Fitzgerald
In addition to apparently not being able to hold onto a job I think one of his requirements for moving on was a "Global Head" title. (JK, young Master. G.)
From David Goldman (Spengler), Deputy Editor (Business) at Asia Times, June 15:
As the Eurasian landmass tilts toward China, Germany will pivot East and leave France as the mendicant rump of a fading European Community
The headlamp I brought from Temu had flickered out half a dozen levels above the subterranean gallery where I picked my way to the circular staircase that led to the secret ossuary of the Carthusian monks, deep below the sewers of Paris.
With a magnum of Chateau Margaux in one hand and a large brass spittoon in the other, I clenched my phone between my teeth and stumbled along the niter-covered walls by its flashlight.
The eroded stone steps of the staircase seemed to wobble under my feet, and I stumbled with tortuous languor until I felt the viscous muck of the ossuary floor. The stacked skulls of long-departed Carthusians grinned at me.
Once again, I kept tryst with the Ghost of Cardinal Richelieu, victor of the Thirty Years War and architect of France’s 200-year dominance on the European continent.
I waited for what seemed an eternity until the second hand on my watch swept towards night and planted the spittoon into the putrescent ooze below me. I uncorked the Margaux and poured it into the spittoon and waited.
Spirits of the French dead filtered out of the walls and drifted toward the wine. I made out the faces of General Weygand, the defeated commander of the Battle of France, and Marshal Ney, who commanded the rear guard during the Grand Armee’s catastrophic retreat from Moscow.
I waved them away until a translucent shadow crept up on the spittoon. It inserted a spectral proboscis into the narrow opening and took on color as it absorbed the Bordeaux, and then extracted its head with an audible pop.
“I warn you,” said the Ghost in his Maurice Chevalier accent. “I am in a rotten mood.”
“Eminence,” I ventured, “what will become of France? It seems ungovernable. President Macron’s party had less than 15% of the votes for the European Parliament last Sunday, half the votes of the Rassemblement National. The polls put his party at only 19% in next month’s snap elections for parliament. What will become of Macron’s promise to send French soldiers to Ukraine?”
“C’est plus qu’un crime, c’est une faut,” hissed the scarlet Ghost. “It’s more than a crime. It’s a blunder, as I used to say.”
“Begging your pardon, Eminence, you didn’t say that. It was Talleyrand.”
“Eh bien?” Richelieu sneered. “I didn’t have to say it, because I didn’t make that kind of blunder. Not every stratagem I devised was successful but I wasn’t stupid enough to fight Russia, like Talleyrand’s master Napoleon. A few thousand Legionnaires and a dozen obsolete Mirage fighters will simply give the Russians more opportunity for target practice. It is a petty gesture by a petty man.”
“But why is Ukraine so important to Macron, Eminence? Why risk his reputation playing a weak hand?”
“Irrelevant!” thundered the Cardinal. “France has become irrelevant! It will become a purveyor of overpriced handbags to the nouveau riche of China and a theme park for Chinese tourists! Its grandeur is gone but the self-importance of the past still infects the imagination of the elite of France!”
“But why irrelevant?” I pressed.
“The elite of France know that when Ukraine can no longer fight, they will find themselves in a world in which their services no longer are required. There is not a single industry in which France excels. It has less than half the level of industrial automation of China, Japan or Germany.
“It makes mediocre cars and exports a sixth of what the German auto industry sells. It cannot compete with the Chinese. As the Eurasian landmass tilts towards China, Germany will pivot to the East, leaving France as the mendicant rump of a fading European Community.”
“Eminence, I am deeply confused. What does this have to do with sending French soldiers to Ukraine?”
“You are as dense as always, Spengler. Must I spell it out for you? If Ukraine is humiliated, Germany will return to buying Russian gas once again and open the door to China, just as the Hungarians have done. It will hitch a ride on China’s grand initiative toward the Global South, its auto companies will continue to integrate with their Chinese counterparts, its engineering giants will build factories in China for German investors, and its Mittelstand will export its products to markets prepared by Chinese infrastructure.”....
....MUCH MORE
Previously, February 8, 2024:
Hanging Out With Cardinal Richelieu For The Lowdown On Ukraine, China, Yemen etc.
