Paraphrasing Antonio Gramsci, we can say that the West faces the challenges of this century with the optimism of reason and the pessimism of will. It would be, instead, necessary to do the opposite.
The optimism of reason is a psychological device that leads us to believe that we are always the best, the strongest, the unbeatable because the data on GDP, armament endowment, and technological development still put us in first place. This optimism is pernicious and mendacious. It is self-consoling. It dulls our minds. It does not allow us to face reality. Which is quite different. And it makes us turn to pessimism of will: which means not to oppose the enemies of the West but to come to terms with them, deluding ourselves that the more or less dishonorable pacts will be fulfilled. History has taught us nothing.
24 years of tragic mistakes. Gifts to China
For the past 24 years we have done everything to hurt each other.
We gave China access to markets, while also granting it the know-how of our best companies that had cost us decades of investment and research. In exchange for what? For ephemeral savings in the labor costs of our companies that relocated, world growth driven by Chinese demand, and the unfounded certainty that "capitalism in communist sauce" would undermine the roots of the power of the ironclad regime in Beijing.
Today we have a China that will soon surpass the U.S. in GDP, that has companies at the forefront of strategic green energy sectors, that has grabbed the raw materials it needs for the technological future, that threatens Taiwan every day, that does its own bidding in the seas around it, that occupies islets that do not belong to it, that supports Russia in the most serious war being fought on European soil and turns both eyes to Korean weapons that transit from its parts bound for Russia. A China that has strengthened, rather than weakened, its most oppressive control ever over its people. A masterpiece of self-defeat. We are not admitting our mistakes, we are not learning from them, we are running for cover at the drop of a hat with decoupling e derisking. But we have created not a partner, not a loyal competitor but an enemy who is becoming stronger than we are.
Concessions to Russia
And what about Russia? We turned a blind eye when Putin took Chechnya in a war of unprecedented ferocity, when he invaded Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and put the government of Georgia under guard as well. Before him, Yeltsin himself had already sent Russian troops into the Moldovan region of Transnistria, the Caucasus region of Ingushetia, Tajikistan and Dagestan. Lands far away from us? Yep. But when Putin took Crimea, did anyone wake up? Even then the alarm bells didn't go off. Then came the aggression against Ukraine...And for two years we have still been discussing whether and how to help Kyiv, bit by bit, with what limits, with what precautions. And it's not over. Putin has understood perfectly well that the West is timid, is divided, that some parties in its democracies are for sale, and is acting accordingly. The Germans themselves, with short memories, for years deluded themselves that it was enough to have cheap gas to feel like good neighbors of Russia: the noose tightened around their necks and in Berlin even Mrs. Merkel did not notice.
Moscow and Beijing's converging strategies
Neither Xi nor Putin are improvisers. They have a clear strategy. Just clear-headed and determined. As much as they dislike and respect each other, the Russians and Chinese have a common goal: to attack the West on all fronts, to weaken it, to take its place not only in geopolitics but also by polluting the life of their democracies. They do this every time there are elections at our place, with cyber attacks, with pre-scripted propaganda, with the scientific and efficient dissemination of fake news to discredit their opponents, using social networks to pollute the minds of our younger generations and even winning some interested sympathy of some heads of state in the West who instead of dealing under the table with them should avoid behaving like traitors.
Free space at the axis of evil
In the meantime, we have witnessed the spread of the Russians and Chinese in Africa, we have allowed Iràn's nuclear capabilities to grow, we have allowed the ayatollahs to extend their influence in the Middle East, also abetted by the folly of the second Iraq war that wiped out the only bastion that could contain the Tehran regime. As for North Korea, let us draw a veil over the humiliating figures of the unsuccessful attempts to make a character like Kim Jong-un reasonable....
The systematic self-destruction of the West.
Can we be happy with all this systematic self-destruction of the West? We have enjoyed 70 years of freedom, democracy and prosperity and we are leaving to our children and grandchildren a world destined to succumb to totalitarianisms, to the bloodiest and most intolerant regimes that threaten to take away from us what millions of our citizens died for during World War II.
Going on the counterattack
Or, perhaps, isn't it time to go on the counterattack, no ifs and buts, on all grounds, from economics, to trade, to technology, to armaments, leaving aside stupid jealousies and mistrusts between America and Europe and recreating a united front determined to reverse the course of history of the past 24 years?
There is a need for great optimism of will since the realism of reason would lead us to pessimism. Let us not underestimate our opponents; they are good, capable and far from clueless. Let us not be deceived by the sirens of the pacifists who delude themselves, a few in good faith, fewer a few with confused ideas, and even more numerous accomplices of our enemies, that all it takes is an olive branch to make doves fly in a crow-infested sky.
*Published in The Discussion
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