The director of the Valdai Club identifies Macron as the face of Western submission.
The French president is positioning himself as an intermediary between Washington and the European Union, but his role is seen as capitulation.
247 - Political scientist Timofey Bordachev, director of programs at the Valdai Club, published a article on the RT portal in which he analyzes the role of French President Emmanuel Macron in the current geopolitical situation. According to Bordachev, Macron has become the main symbol of Western Europe's submission to Western interests, abandoning any real pretense of strategic autonomy.
The author argues that, although some European leaders and analysts speak of the need for a leader capable of challenging the influence of the US or Russia, the reality is that Western Europe has been limited to adapting to the great powers. Currently, the continent is adjusting its foreign policy to follow the new direction set by Washington, without any significant effort to ensure independence in global affairs.
The race for Washington's preference
Bordachev observes that, with the transition in the US administration, European countries have been realigning their strategies to secure a favorable position with the White House. Germany, the United Kingdom, and France are competing for the position of privileged partner of the United States, while smaller countries, such as Poland, have already consolidated their unconditional loyalty to Washington.
The United Kingdom, after Brexit, seeks to maintain an independent foreign policy, but with little influence on the direction of the continent. Germany, according to Bordachev, adopts a more cautious stance, awaiting clearer definitions from the US before making significant decisions. In this scenario, Emmanuel Macron presents himself as the ideal candidate to lead the adaptation of Western Europe to American directives.
Macron: the perfect leader for European capitulation.
The author argues that Macron possesses ideal characteristics to fulfill this role. As head of state of the only European Union nation with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and with an independent nuclear arsenal, he has a certain symbolic weight. However, Bordachev argues that these attributes do not guarantee real influence for France on the global stage.
Macron also represents the political elite of the European Union: a skilled diplomat who masters the art of rhetoric, but whose actions lack significant impact. Despite electoral defeats in the elections for the European Parliament and the French National Assembly, he survives politically, sustained by grandiose speeches and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. However, his administration has been marked by failures in attempting to reverse France's economic decline, being constrained by the constraints of the eurozone.
Bordachev recalls Macron's contradictions over the years, such as his famous statement about NATO's "brain death" at the beginning of his administration. According to the analyst, the French president's willingness to change his position according to political expediency makes him a leader highly adaptable to the demands of the United States.
The European surrender and the crisis in Ukraine.
The article suggests that Macron will be the face of Western Europe's "surrender" in the outcome of the geopolitical crisis surrounding Ukraine. According to Bordachev, the only winners of this war will be the United States and Russia, while the big losers will be Western Europe itself and Ukraine. The only question, he says, is under what conditions this defeat will be formalized.
In this context, Bordachev argues that the European Union has been implementing initiatives that serve the strategic interests of the US more than an autonomous decision of the bloc. An example of this would be the proposal to send "peacekeeping forces" to Ukraine, which would be aligned with Washington's strategy of transferring the burden of the conflict to the Europeans. In the end, any agreement that emerges will be presented by the EU as a diplomatic triumph, even if, in practice, it represents only a disguised retreat.
Given the history of public acceptance of questionable decisions by European leaders, the author suggests that this outcome will be sold to the public as a great historical achievement.
The future of Macron and Western Europe
Finally, Bordachev concludes that Macron could become the face of this transition, acting as the main representative of the European Union in both Washington and Moscow. However, this position would not signify real leadership, but rather the execution of directives imposed by the US.
The analyst mocks the idea that Western Europe needs a strong leader to challenge the great powers, suggesting that Macron is closer to being a facilitator of American hegemony than an independent statesman. When his term ends, Bordachev predicts that Macron will follow the path of many former European leaders: taking a comfortable position in the private sector or in an international organization, leaving behind the challenges that his administration failed to solve.
The article concludes that Macron represents the essence of contemporary European leadership: a politician whose rise would have been unthinkable when Western Europe still played a significant role in world geopolitics. Now, as the continent drifts towards strategic irrelevance, he seems to be exactly the kind of leader Europe deserves.
