The confluence of losing wars, physical economic collapse, and popular discontent, which is expected to be manifested in upcoming elections, has shaken the once-so-smug trans-Atlantic establishment, as is evident in this week’s “Inflection Points” memo by Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe. Kempe asks, “What Do Biden, Macron, and Sunak Have in Common?” He then provides a self-serving answer: “They brought it on themselves.” After reviewing the likely defeats of Macron and the Tories, and the chaos unleashed in the U.S. by Biden’s collapse, he laments that the ostensible progress made by Macron’s economic policies will be wiped out if the second round on July 7 in the French snap election follows the pattern of the first round.
Not surprisingly, Kempe takes no credit for the collapse in support for incumbent parties, as the only mention of NATO’s losing proxy war in Ukraine—a war of which he and his corporate funders have been rabid supporters—comes in an expression of concern that Biden’s problems may affect the July 9-11 NATO summit in Washington. Kempe closes his memo writing, “Biden must decide within the next month whether to stay in the race, and he’ll have to mull over the choice while his presidential duties carry on. Next week, the 75th NATO Summit kicks off. He will host heads of state and government from the Alliance’s 31 other members in Washington, D.C., amid wars in Europe and the Middle East and tensions in Asia. The stakes have seldom been higher.”
