War and Peace in the Middle East – and why Israel has already lost

A long-standing local conflict that seemed to be somewhat contained suddenly erupts into a major global flashpoint and threatens to engulf the whole region in a spiral of violence and death. Most likely, Israel will in the coming days and weeks use such brutal force that it might well be able to claim some sort of victory. Over the long term, though, and regardless of what happens now, Israel has already lost.

China is the reason why there is war in Ukraine

Without China’s support, Vladimir Putin would not have been able to launch a full-scale war on Ukraine, and without China’s support he would not be able to pursue it. Far from being interested in brokering a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, as it seems to pretend, China knows that the continuation of Russia’s aggression and assault on the West-dominated international order is fundamentally in its interest.

Polycrisis? What Polycrisis?

The concept of ‘polycrisis’ is increasingly being used to designate the accumulation of compounding crises that human societies are facing, and that they are increasingly struggling to address and failing to solve. Yet this concept somehow misses the fact that there might be an inherent historical logic to the piling up and conjunction of these crises at this particular moment in time, as well as to the fact that whatever we are doing to address them appears to be failing.

War and Peace in the Crisis of Complexity

As Russia’s war against Ukraine looks increasingly likely to last, many in the West and beyond are growing wary of the risks of a protracted conflict and are calling on Kyiv to make concessions to end the hostilities. The idea that a negotiated settlement could swiftly end this war, however, is based on a misunderstanding of its geopolitical nature as well as its historical meaning.

Welcome to the age of energy disruptions

We have entered the age of global energy disruptions, and most likely will never really get out of it.

Le coronavirus et le sort de la civilisation industrielle

Ceci est la traduction en français d’une interview accordée à Işın Eliçin du média indépendant turc Medyascope.tv – dont la version turque est disponible ici. L’entretien couvre divers aspects de la crise du COVID-19 ainsi que sa signification dans une perspective historique plus large. Fondé en 2015, Medyascope.tv est une plate-forme médiatique en ligne diffusant des interviews, des discussions et des commentaires en direct via Periscope, YouTube et Facebook. C’est l’une des rares voix journalistiques indépendantes en Turquie. Vous pouvez soutenir son travail sur https://www.patreon.com/medyascopetv.

The coronavirus and the fate of industrial civilization

This is the English text of an interview given to Işın Eliçin of Turkish independent media Medyascope.tv – which Turkish version can be found here. The interview covers various aspects of the COVID-19 crisis as well as its meaning in a broader historical perspective. Founded in 2015, Medyascope.tv is an online media platform broadcasting live interviews, discussions and commentaries through Periscope, YouTube and Facebook. It is one of the few independent journalistic voices in Turkey. You can support its work at https://www.patreon.com/medyascopetv.

COVID-19 – Réflexions sur le sens d’une pandémie

La crise de santé publique mondiale sans précédent que nous traversons aujourd’hui révèle sans doute quelques vérités fondamentales sur notre monde et notre destinée.

COVID-19 – A few thoughts on the meaning of a global pandemic

The unprecedented global public health crisis we are now going through might be revealing something quite fundamental about our world and our fate.

The Johnson “coup”, the Brexit mess, and the global crisis of democracy

A Twitter-esque tale of a country on the edge, a civilisation bumping into the diminishing returns of complexity, and a world reaching the limits to democracy.