Descent into Hell: Europe’s top diplomats are nearly at the journey’s end
On Friday, 31 March Vladimir Putin signed into law the new Foreign Policy Concept which will guide Russian diplomacy in the years to come. It replaces the existing Concept promulgated eight years ago and sets out on 43 pages in logically organized form what we have been witnessing in Russia’s behavior on the world stage since the launch of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine and subsequent nearly complete rupture of relations with the US-led Collective West. There are few surprises in this document though there are some very important new directions taken over from the USSR which I will tweak out in a separate essay later today or tomorrow.
What I wish to call attention to here is how Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept was greeted by the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and by an unidentified spokesman for the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office.
The UK spokesperson wrote: “April Fool’s Day tomorrow” with specific mention of the document released by the Russians. I have in front of me the respective news item in The Eastern Herald (India).
Borrell, who is not known for originality, picked up this convenient insult and used it to remark on another Russia-related development of the same day. He wrote: “Russia taking over today @UN Security Council presidency is fitting for April Fool’s day.”
Both statements were issued on their Twitter accounts. As they say, the medium (low-brow to be kind about it) is the message.
When diplomacy degenerates into crude insults as the UK and EU showed yesterday, we are well on our way to total war. Our foreign policy is being conducted by intellectually challenged people who have had a bad upbringing, sad to say.
The path before us is what the French call la déscente aux enfers. Whether we will emerge into a second life through Resurrection after hitting bottom depends on your religious beliefs.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2023