July 15, 2017 As a former soldier and war correspondent, I abhor demonstrations of flag-waving, militarism and nationalism. That great American, Benjamin Franklin, put it perfectly: ‘no good war, no bad peace.’ But I must admit that my heart does beat faster when I hear the rousing strains of France’s […]
July 1, 2017 Bravo Monsieur le president Macron! You have gotten off to a most impressive start. France’s five-year national depression – known as ‘morosité – has lifted and been replaced by a sense that the republic is not doomed after all. In fact, quite the contrary. France’s new 39-year […]
June 3, 2017 Germany: ‘bad, very bad.’ Trump tweet. France’s brainy new president, Emmanuel Macron, said it was too bad that Donald Trump was not part of the Enlightenment. Few Americans would have understood what he meant but Europeans certainly did. The Enlightenment was the glorious epoch in the mid […]
