THE HYBRIDS ADVANCE

Once upon a time two great forward thinking intellectuals suggested opposite views regarding the future. Francis Fukuyama suggested that history had finally reached the end and that everything would converge towards a neo-liberal, globalized outcome. Samuel P. Huntington predicted that conflicts between civilizations would override convergence.

Today we witness the ominous truth.  Not only are the fault lines multiplying, there is a further nefarious development: the rise of the hybrid.

Qatar is the perfect example of the absolute corruption of all things under the sun, including the trivial. FIFA should make the West blush or better, run. This feast of greed over morals on the back of sport and the gullible should put the West to shame and award Qatar with an Oscar for hypocrisy. This plutocratic takeover  with no heroes other than the ones who are not mentioned since they are hidden from view or under the sand is a pure example of a cynical merger between self- aggrandizement and bribes.

It is one of the numerous manifestations of the rule of the hybrid. Sharm el-Sheik is, likewise, a depressing manifestation of the sunset of enlightened collegial thinking. Climate was expected to create a shared sense of imminent danger but the conference chose the accountant over the scientific.

The illusion that countries lost in the delta of their trivial oppositions would find a shared riverbed is dead. Even formerly solid groupings with noble aspirations no longer inspire since they show rot at the core.

Prejudice, cultural inconveniences, strategic undercurrents, historical amnesia contribute to undermine any form of cohesion. Hence, we look into a broken mirror. Russia tried on new clothes but the wolf still felt snubbed and unwelcome. Hence he returned in search of another prey. The EU has become as inspiring as a nunnery. The Arabs just want to cash in on their wealth with the support of any plutocrat under the sun. The Latinos compete for macho dreams on the back of the US which they still loath as much as they envy it. Sub-Saharan Africa is a ticking time-bomb. Australia is too big for its own good and for China's delight. China plays the aloof lover but is considered a poor performer in bed. S.E. Asia has decided to specialize in resorts and Bali Hai fantasies: a goldmine for the elderly and the horny. America will provide yet again another Barnum/Trump show to entertain the masses who are hooked on dubious political slapstick.

The result is that nobody likes anybody and that the hybrid wins on points. Many feel cheated. In Europe, where Ukraine, victim to a hybrid war that doesn't say it's name, has to clean up a total disaster zone created by an enemy that goes almost unpunished. This scandal in the midst of Europe goes on while the aggressor hardly suffers the sanctions other than the loss of his VIP entrance card (to what?)  Soon the G20 will have to beg countries to attend. India or China can do without table cards.

Self-made groupings are overtaking the former structured Anglo-Saxon model.  They are mostly pragmatic and adverse to political theology. They slowly infiltrate existing bastions of resistance and have a flimsy sort of sex appeal, unlike the chorus lines of the EU and NATO. The trend feels irreversible. The West can no longer claim the mantle of the rule of law after January 6 in Washington or the Ukraine tragedy without end. It had better concentrate on getting its own house in order first and review its antiquated strategy. Sometimes it is better to cut the brush before mending the garden.