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The "barbarians" exist? The diagonal of rogue

By Hubert Vedrine
Le Figaro, 19/09/2008

Former foreign minister questioned the notion of "barbaric", often used to describe certain players in conflicts around the world and whose Tzvetan essayist Todorov believes it is alien to European culture.

Tzvetan Todorov would like the French, Europeans, Westerners continue to feed this famous "clash of civilizations" they claim to reject, release it, and see beyond. He puts all his talent is great, his conviction that feels every page, its philosophical culture that is never heavy, to exorcise this "fear" of "barbarians" (1) that has invaded the United States, and hence the entire West because of, or under the pretext of Sept. 11. It led to Manichaeism and simplistic mixtures of the "war against terror" Do Muslims see that through Islam, reducing Islam to Islamism and Islamist terrorism, to consider only the responses in strength to refrain from any analysis and policy response. Meanwhile, the American analyst Fareed Zakaria, in his book The Post-American World, was surprised to see the most powerful country in the world live in fear of everything and the others.

Todorov beautiful game with any player in good faith, to dismantle the historical use of the fantasy word "barbarians" - there is always someone barbaric - to explain that "collective identities" were certainly a heart, but they always was moving and never stopped to exchange and learn from each other, that the War of the Worlds, which appears inevitable, can be avoided, especially if it is known, regarding the relationship incandescent Islam / West "navigate the shoals."

For him, the idea of Europe - he mentions with accents inspired near Jorge Semprun, Bronislaw Geremek until his death, and Elie Barnavi until recently - contains the antidote to all these dichotomies dangerous. It is based on the acceptance of plurality, not as a historical legacy that handicapping is resigned to assume, but as a principle future policy and an asset.

We can be seduced by such an approach nevertheless requires both questions about America and Europe. This design is the exact opposite, absolute, ideology and politics of the Bush Administration for eight years, whose influence on Western public opinion, including French, has finally been enormous. Todorov wrote him, Countdown, "you can not erase centuries of history (...) in which the current" land of fear "(the West) have dominated the current" land of resentment "(the Arab -Muslims). "

In his eyes, "the prerequisite is that the Western elites continue to consider himself an incarnation of law, virtue and universal (...) and put himself above the law and judgments of others." But that is their consubstantial! "The right of military intervention, he insists, is likely to perceive the ideals defended by the West - liberty, equality, secularism, human rights - as a convenient camouflage of their will to power, and therefore, to discredit them. "Instead, he recommends," that the Muslim population countries (Arab) can turn his attention to the internal causes of its setbacks, we must remove the most conspicuous external causes - those that the West is responsible. " And cite Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan.

Although realistic Republicans and Democrats are trying to rethink U.S. foreign policy after the fiascos of the Bush Administration, will they go to such a challenge to the U.S. prior to the time when the emerging world challenges Western Rome? This would require at least one Baker-Hamilton for the whole region back to say how the realities and deal with all the "barbarians." As

European response, Todorov has the courage to admit: even thought as a strength, diversity is not enough. The idealism that is to project the situation of Europe on the rest of the world is "inadequate." Europe must become a "quiet power". It can not exclude in principle the use of armed force. Todorov is more realistic than those who dream of a Europe merely its "soft power" (his standards, his aide, its conditionalities, his speeches) and radiate through his example that democracy and its social model. It remains to convince the Europeans. Perhaps the summer of 2008 he will descillé the eyes of many in the real world, far more to establish an "international community"?

(1) Tzvetan Todorov, "Fear of Barbarians", Robert Laffont.

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The return of Afghanistan to the French public testimony under the limits of freedom of the press that limits the operation of information out about this theater. The war in the fourth dimension - cognitive - is a delicate operation. Related fields of knowledge and information, it is for warring peoples. Theorizing during the past twenty years, on both sides of the Atlantic, has not granted on the latter concept. If Americans and Europeans agree on a definition offensive, aimed at the domination of the theater of information (full spectrum dominance), opinions differ as to size-up to its defensive nature. Policy proclaim war against terrorism as a universal phenomenon, but the military continues to regard every conflict in their uniqueness. Naturally, the truth lies in between. United States and Great Britain, the reality of the terrorist threat has been found in the most unspeakable horror, legitimizing the same time ... the fighting in Afghanistan and elsewhere. In France, and to a lesser extent in other European countries like Spain and Italy, the sense of illegitimacy of the intervention against Iraq has led to place it under a cone of silence operations in Afghanistan .
The relativity of the sphere of consensus on military matters in Europe explains the differences. But it also reflects a weakness of the information operation in Afghanistan. The techniques used by Western troops to win local people largely been learned by the Taliban, as shown by their increased operational since the spring. In particular, they learned the virtues of the "strategic corporal", a term referring to the implications of decision making at the tactical level on strategic policy. They have successfully applied on local populations, and they enjoy the high level of illiteracy, which limits the scope of the psychological operations of ISAF, but also use the hostile environment. Thus they have developed their own transaction information, playing on two areas: local communities to detach Local Karzai government, and internationally, to undermine the strength of the antiterrorist coalition. In particular, they understood that the high short-term tactical posted by ISAF revealed a desire to reassure European governments by posting a performance of the military operation in a communication on combatants killed. By their access to international media, the Taliban are able to achieve the same communication. And parade in Paris-Match is the proof.
What attitude to take in the future? To get the public support in such mission, it is important that the international communities and national Ministers had full knowledge, they understand its goals and objectives. This transparency can have a positive effect on international and local support and ultimately help create realistic expectations and perceptions. In Afghanistan, expectations were high and some uncertainty regarding the mandate of ISAF are perceived, especially on anti-drug operations. This confusion has been used by the Taliban to undermine the mission, using too much transparency in which operations are conducted. NATO ponders two important lessons. First, key military tasks and need support must be formulated in clear terms, so that different interpretations may not appear in the area of operation or in the countries contributing troops. Second, effective communication strategies to inform people is extremely important.